1. Privilege, Power, and Difference
Social Inequality
Privilege, Power, and Difference

2. Outline The trouble we are in The social construction of difference
Privilege
Power and the matrix of domination
The trouble we are in
The social construction of difference (connect to in-group, out-group reading)
Privilege (connect to readings on race and class. Marx, McIntosh, Dubois)
Power and the matrix of domination (extend beyond white privilege)

3. The Trouble We Are In
There are deep social inequalities go against our common ideals for society.
fairness
justice
equality of opportunity
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
We are getting it wrong in the common explanations for why these inequalities exist
Women are just natural care-takers (kids, family)
people naturally fear difference
poor people are just "down on their luck" or unmotivated
These “common sense” explanations make inequalities seem natural. They are not natural. They are not rooted in our biology. They are rooted in the ways we relate to one another. These inequalities are built through our social interactions (socially constructed). That is GOOD news, because it means that they can also be socially deconstructed!

4. Race
The Census Bureau just released statistics on income and poverty in 2013, based on the Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey.
One shocking fact from the report is that large income gaps between different racial and ethnic groups have been around for a long time and continue to exist:
Didn't the Civil Rights Movement in the 60's eliminate discrimination in employment? How then do you explain this pattern?
Common sense explanation- Some groups just don’t work as hard as others
Structural Explanation- There are systematic ways in which resources and advantages are channeled toward members of some groups and away from members of other groups. (for example, segregated and underfunded school systems, in-group hiring practices, college admissions policies that privilege legacy admissions.

5. Class
Basically, you need two full time jobs to afford rent in some of these states.  In most of these states you need to work 1 and 1/2 jobs to make rent for a 2 br apartment.  And in NO state can you get by with just one min wage job.  When people are struggling, what is the common explanation?  They are "don't want to work" or are not working hard enough.  Instead, look at the overall pattern. There is not one state where people are able to make it when working a minimum wage job. That means that individual motivation is insufficient as an explanation to the problem. Instead, ask what is it about the social structure that is creating these patterns. What changes in the social structure could make this work for people? (rent controls or subsidies?, increases to the min wage?)
These are just a few examples of social problems related to social inequality.  Can you think of any others?
homelessness, domestic violence, marriage inequality, sentencing disparities in the courts, gender wage gap, etc.

6. “Common sense” v. reality
Commonly thought
Everything is someone’s fault
Its not ok to talk about racism, sexism etc.
These are someone else’s problems
Reality
Individual attitudes have little to do with it
It’s painful to talk about yes, but we can’t do anything about these problems unless we do.
We are all involved in these systems of inequality
*PUNCHLINE
these systems will continue to exist unless people in dominant categories also begin to
see this as their problem too and take action in collaboration with people
in oppressed categories

7. Difference is not the problem
The problem lies in unexamined systems of power that create and reproduce inequalities, They are built into the structure of society.
social structure- policies, practices, and processes embedded in our social institutions (government, religious institutions, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, families, media...)
ex/ a university provides the structural context for learning. The set up of a class affects how people interact in that class, right?
Other analogies:
Football. Players play the game, but there is a structure to the game (positions, rules, playbook). How players play the game will affect the outcome of course, but their behavior on the field is guided by the structure of the game (the way things are set up) and therefore they tend to behave in fairly predictable ways on the field. Questioning privilege is about questioning the structure of the game. How are things set up? Are the rules fair? Can we change the playbook?

8. Social Construction of Difference
We think difference is the problem…
That people are just naturally afraid of the unfamiliar, but that is not true. We LEARN to fear or be uncomfortable with difference.
What does it mean to say that difference is socially constructed?
In-group/ Out-group
We LEARN what is appropriate for our group. Gender roles, class position, etc. We learn how we are supposed to interact with each other and think about each other. We learn to fear difference.
Think about kids. Little kids will play with anyone, boys girls, muslims, catholics, Latinos, African Americans. Difference doesn’t even occur to them. But, they are quickly taught it by peers, family members, teachers, movies, etc. and by middle school we start to see separations, fears, stereotyping.

9. Where were we… The trouble we are in
The social construction of difference
Privilege
Power and the matrix of domination

10. What is privilege?
Privilege is one side of the social relationship between groups in a social structure.
Privilege elevates the group in question above another group in a way that has deep and lasting social or economic consequences.
The structural relationship affects individual consciousness, group interaction, and group access to power and resources.
Privilege as Paradox:
Oddly, one does not have to FEEL privileged or want to be privileged to receive privilege.

11. But I don’t want to be "privileged"...
“We need to be clear that there is no such thing as giving up one’s privilege to be ‘outside’ the system. One is always in the system in a way which challenges or strengthens the status quo. Privilege is not something that I take and which I therefore have the option of not taking. It is something that society gives me, and unless I change the institutions that give it to me, they will continue to give it, and I will continue to have it, however noble and egalitarian my intentions.”
-Hary Brod (1989)

12. Privilege and Power Privilege is not “luck”
Privilege is unearned group advantages based on some social status
Privilege sociologically speaking is about groups, not individuals
Think of privilege as VIP status in most social institutions. VIPs are allowed to cut in the front of the line at nightclubs… get their own private party rooms so that they don’t have to mingle with the rif raf… Get all sorts of free stuff even though they don’t need it (goody bags, designer clothes, etc)
Do you see their privilege as unfair? Why? –they didn’t earn it. They are spoiled just because of who their daddies are.
NOT JUST WEALTH… also cultural valuing of whiteness over color; heterosexuality over homosexuality , etc.
Our society attaches privileges to being white, male, heterosexual, and nondisabled.
Privilege sociologically speaking is about groups, not individuals
Privilege is when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to rather than anything they’ve done or failed to do.
If you were to take more seriously a male professor of the same age and educational training than you do me, that would be an example of what’s called male privilege.
If when partnering up for a class presentation you were to assume that a non-disabled fellow student may be more intelligent than one with muscular distrophy, that is an example of “non-disability privilege”
Picture a white male professor and an Asian female professor. If on the first day of class you were to give more respect to the white male professor than an Asian female professor because you assumed him to be authoritative and her to be a pushover, then both male and white privilege are at play.
Why, because my being a woman, white, and able to walk has nothing to do with my knowledge as a professor. Yet, studies show that these sorts of judgments are very common and affect opportunities for individuals in oppressed categories.
Unearned advantage gives dominant groups a competitive edge that they are often reluctant to even acknowledge much less give up (especially if they lack class privilege)
I want you to think then about the RELATIONSHIP between advantage and disadvantage, between privilege and oppression.

13. Understanding oppression
Oppression- social forces that tend to “press on people and hold them down and block their pursuit of a good life.
Is oppression the same as being hurt by a system of power?
Being in a privileged category that has an oppressive relationship with another doesn’t isn’t the same as being an oppressive person who behaves in oppressive ways.
Can men be oppressed?
Yes, but not as men. “The complexity of systems of privilege makes it possible for men to experience oppression if they also happen to be of color or gay or disabled or in a lower social class, but not simply because they are male”
No. Men for example can be oppressed simply because they are male. But they could experience oppression as gay men for example.

14. Let’s think critically about what privilege is and isn’t…
Is having good friends a form of privilege?
Do women have privilege because they are more free to express emotion than men?
Do American Indians have privilege because they get special scholarships?
No, because none of these things elevate the group in question above another group. Let’s take each one by one.
Having good friends is not privilege. Neither is having a nice car or a happy life. Privilege is NOT “being blessed” or having good fortune. It is not an individual thing. It is a group-level thing. Privilege is about something that all members of a particular social group get simply because they are members of that group. Think of it like VIP status at a nightclub. If you are on the VIP list, you get to skip the line. Only people on that list get that privilege and they get on that list because of a group they are in (famous actors for ex) not because of anything they’ve done personally.
Something such as feeling free to express emotion.  That may be a good thing and it may be allowed for women and discouraged in men, but it is not a privilege because patriarchal culture puts a low value on emotion compared with being tough and always being in control.  It may feel good to have a good cry, but it will not elevate your status and may in fact lower your status because it is seen as a feminine trait.
Affirmative action scholarships are an effort to level a very uneven playing field.  Past discrimination and worse has stripped wealth and opportunity from racial and ethnic minorities making it harder for some groups to go to college than others.  Efforts at inclusion where there has historically been exclusion are not the same as privilege.

15. Consequences of Privilege
Some consequences of privilege:
Material Consequences:
Uneven distribution of jobs, wealth, income, decent housing, quality schooling, adequate healthcare.
Intangible Consequences:
In addition, regardless of which group we’re talking about, privilege generally allows people to assume a certain level of acceptance, inclusion, and respect in the world.
Connect to DuBois double consciousness.

16. The Matrix of Domination
This perspective requires us to think about race, class, gender as a web of power relationships not just social categories.
Paradox:
Remember, an individual can be privileged and unprivileged at the same time!
Consider the social categories you belong to… Are you in some privileged categories and some marginalized categories?
Matrix of domination is a concept put forth by Patricia Hill Collins to describe intersecting social categories shaped by power structures (white supremacy, patriarchy, class oppression, etc).
Think of the matrix of domination as a web of privilege.
This perspective requires us to think about race, class, gender as a web of power relationships not just social categories.
Recognizing these makes it easier to identify other systems of power too such as sexuality, ability, age, national origin, religion
A person can be privileged and unprivileged at the same time:
Ex/ a middle class white lesbian is given race and class privilege and therefore may be less likely to notice how race and class operate to her advantage. She can become aware of these privileges, but it will take conscious effort on her part. Or her experience of gender inequality and heterosexim may foster the illusion that this automatically prepares her to know everything about other forms of privilege and oppression. Part of recognizing your privilege means acknowledging that you don’t know everything about these issues, that for most people in privileged groups, these issues have been hidden from our view. We are taught not to notice race… to do so would be rude or even worse, racist. But pretending it doesn’t exist is not the same as addressing inequalities. So recognizing privilege means being humble, putting yourself in a position to listen, to learn from others. If you are in a privileged category and you really want to know and understand what people in oppressed categories are talking about, step 1 is to sit back, listen, and try to avoid the naturally defensive reaction that will bubble up. Instead, ask yourself, what if what they were saying was true? What would that mean?
Race, class and gender are related
Ex/ a working class man’s access to male privilege can be affected by his class position.
Therefore: “oppression Olympics” (my oppression is worse than your oppression) are fruitless
Understanding the matrix of domination is about Critically examining the structure of society to reveal ways in which power and access to resources are channeled toward some groups and away from others.
The point of this critical examination is to challenge the way we think.  Once we have done that, we will reexamine how we might act in ways that reproduce social inequality.  And then, we might choose to act differently.

17. What this all means
The complexity of web makes it clear that work for change needs to focus on the idea of privilege itself in all the forms it takes.
In other words, we wont get rid of racism without doing something about sexism and classism because the system that produces one also produces the others and connects them.

18. Summary The trouble we are in The social construction of difference
Serious social problems connected to race, class, and gender still exist.
The social construction of difference
The root cause of these problems is not natural or inevitable, rather our ideas about group position are learned and then reinforced through interactions in social institutions.
Privilege
A system of unearned advantages given to one group over another group.
The matrix of domination (web of privilege)
A perspective that focuses on the intersecting ways in which power and access to resources are channeled toward some groups and away from others.