Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Privilege, Power, and Difference by Allan G. Johnson

Talking Points: 1) Argument 2) Quotes
Johnson argues that privilege and power as they relate to the differences of gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity and social class are responsible for causing "injustice and unnecessary suffering". His goal? " To change how people think about issues of difference and privilege." Ultimately, so "we can change how we act" and "become part of the complex dynamic through which the world itself will change." A lofty goal. He claims, that "We are, both individually and collectively, stuck in a kind of paralysis that perpetuates the trouble and its human consequences." He presents a diversity Wheel by Loden and Rosener and points out the unchangeable personal attributes in the center of the wheel, the things that people can't change. The outer wheel contains attributes that can change. Although the inner and outer wheel's characteristics are all subject to discrimination, the differences at the center of the wheel are more apt to produce difficulties associated with power and privilege.He states that his book has the "potential ....to get us unstuck", by examining the problem's origins and our affiliation/connection to the problem. Johnson asks those in the dominant culture to quell their defensiveness and to be receptive to the idea of a paradox in power delivery, namely that for each individual or class empowered, there is an individual or class disempowered. "Privilege is always at someone else's expense and always exacts a cost. Everything that's done to receive or maintain it-however passive and unconscious-results in suffering and deprivation for someone". He then makes it clear that for the power to be equitably shared, the individuals currently in power must be willing to not only start the dialogue, but to share their power.

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