View source for Oppression

{{Short description|Malicious or unjust treatment or exercise of power}}
{{Other uses}}
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'''Oppression''' is [[malice (law)|malicious]] or [[injustice|unjust]] treatment of, or exercise of [[power (social and political)|power]] over, a group of individuals, often in the form of governmental authority.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oppression | title=Definition of OPPRESSION }}</ref> Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced.

No universally accepted model or terminology has yet emerged to describe oppression in its entirety, although some scholars cite evidence of different types of oppression, such as social oppression, cultural, political, religious/belief,  institutional oppression, and [[economic oppression]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==Authoritarian oppression==
The word ''oppress ''comes from the Latin ''oppressus'', past participle of ''opprimere'', ("to press against",<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=oppress|title=American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2016|isbn=9780544454453|edition=5th|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125135556/https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=oppress|archive-date=2017-11-25}}</ref> "to squeeze", "to suffocate").<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.kdictionaries-online.com/DictionaryPage.aspx?ApplicationCode=18#&&DictionaryEntry=oppress&SearchMode=Entry|title=Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary|publisher=K Dictionaries Ltd, by arrangement with Random House Information Group, an imprint of The Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.|year=2010|edition=Revised & Updated|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084452/http://www.kdictionaries-online.com/DictionaryPage.aspx?ApplicationCode=18#&&DictionaryEntry=oppress&SearchMode=Entry|archive-date=2014-10-06|access-date=2017-11-23}}</ref> Thus, when [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian governments]] use oppression to subjugate the people, they want their citizenry to feel that "pressing down", and to live in fear that if they displease the authorities they will, in a metaphorical sense, be "squeezed" and "suffocated". Such governments oppress the people using restriction, control, terror, hopelessness, and despair. The tyrant's tools of oppression include, for example, extremely harsh punishments for "unpatriotic" statements; developing a [[secret police]] force; prohibiting [[freedom of assembly]], [[freedom of speech]], and [[freedom of the press]]; controlling the monetary system and economy; and imprisoning or killing activists or other leaders who might pose a threat to their power.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War|last1=Levitsky|first1=Steven|last2=Way|first2=Lucan A.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=9780521882521|oclc=968631692|location=New York City|pages=5–13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Non-democratic politics : authoritarianism, dictatorship, and democratization|last=Xavier|first=Márquez|year=2017|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|pages=1–21; 39–61, 130–141|isbn=9781137486318|location=London|oclc=967148718}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Democracy and authoritarianism in the post-communist world|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|last1=Bunce|first1=Valerie|last2=McFaul|first2=Michael|last3=Stoner|first3=Kathryn|isbn=9780521115988|location=Cambridge, England (UK)|oclc=340983053|author1-link=Valerie Jane Bunce}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Protestant ethic and the spirit of authoritarianism: Puritanism, democracy, and society|last=Zafirovski|first=Milan|date=2007|pages=15–18|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|isbn=9780387493206|location=New York City, NY|oclc=191465180}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The new authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa|last=King|first=Stephen J.|date=2009|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253353979|location=Bloomington, IN|oclc=607553768}}</ref>

==Socioeconomic, political, legal, cultural, and institutional oppression==
Oppression also refers to the subjugation and marginalization of specific groups of people within a country or society, such as [[women]], [[Person of color|people of color]], [[Minority religion|religious communities]], [[Poverty|citizens in poverty]], [[LGBT history|LGBT people]], [[youth rights|youth and children]], and more. This [[Social class|socioeconomic]], cultural, political, legal, and social oppression can occur in every country, culture, and society, including advanced [[Democracy|democracies]].

There is no single, widely accepted definition of social oppression. Philosopher Elanor Taylor defines social oppression in this way:

<blockquote>Oppression is a form of injustice that occurs when one social group is subordinated while another is privileged, and oppression is maintained by a variety of different mechanisms including social norms, stereotypes and institutional rules. A key feature of oppression is that it is perpetrated by and affects social groups. ... [Oppression]  occurs when a particular social group is unjustly subordinated, and where that subordination is not necessarily deliberate but instead results from a complex network of social restrictions, ranging from laws and institutions to implicit biases and stereotypes. In such cases, there may be no deliberate attempt to subordinate the relevant group, but the group is nonetheless unjustly subordinated by this network of social constraints.{{sfn|Taylor|2016|pp=520–521}} </blockquote>

Philosopher Jean Harvey, suggests the term "civilized oppression", which she introduces as follows:

<blockquote>It is harder still to become aware of what I call 'civilized Oppression,' that involves neither physical violence nor the use of law. Yet these subtle forms are by far the most prevalent in Western industrialized societies. This work will focus on issues that are common to such subtle oppression in several different contexts (such as racism, classism, and sexism) ... Analyzing what is involved in civilized oppression includes analyzing the kinds of mechanisms used, the power relations at work, the systems controlling perceptions and information, the kinds of harms inflicted on the victims, and the reasons why this oppression is so hard to see even by contributing agents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harvey |first=Jean |title=Civilized oppression |date=1999 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0847692743 |location=Lanham |pages=1–2 |oclc=41528208}}</ref></blockquote>

Research and theory development on social oppression has advanced apace since the 1980s with the publication of seminal books and articles, and the cross-pollination of ideas and discussion among diverse disciplines, such as [[feminism]], [[sociology]], psychology, philosophy, and political science. Nonetheless, more fully understanding the problem remains an extremely complicated challenge for scholars. Improved understanding will require, for example, comprehending more completely the historical antecedents of current social oppression; the commonalities {{Em dash}} and lack thereof{{snd}}among the various social groups damaged by social oppression and the individual human beings who make up those groups; and the complex interplay between and amongst sociocultural, political, economic, psychological, and legal forces that cause and support oppression.

==Social oppression==
{{See also|Infrahumanisation}}
A common conception of social oppression is seen as when a single group in society unjustly takes advantage of, and exercises power over, another group using dominance and subordination.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Political Sociology: Oppression, Resistance, and the State|last=Glasberg, Shannon|first=Davita, Deric|publisher=Sage Publication Inc|year=2011|isbn=9781452238081|location=United States of America|pages=1}}</ref> This then results in the socially supported mistreatment and exploitation of a group of individuals by those with relative power.<ref>Van Wormer, K., & Besthorn, F. H. (2010). ''Human behavior and the social environment, macro level: Groups, communities, and organizations''. Oxford University Press.</ref> In a social group setting, oppression may be based on many ideas, such as poverty, gender, class, race, caste, or other categories.

According to [[Iris Marion Young]], due to its pluralistic character, it is difficult to construct a definition that applies to all forms of oppression. Therefore, she argues one should focus on the characteristics different forms of oppression might exhibit or have in common. In order to do so, Young develops five characteristics or 'faces' of oppression. Each form of oppression possesses at least one of these characteristics which are: exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Iris Marion |title=Five Faces of Oppression (Chapter 2). In Justice and the politics of difference. |publisher=Princeton University Press. |year=1990 |location=NJ |pages=39–65}}</ref> Young's conception of oppression does not involve an "active oppressor". This means that oppression can occur without people actively oppressing others.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Iris Marion |title=Justice and the Politics of Difference |publisher=Princeton University Press. |year=1990 |location=Princeton |pages=41}}</ref> Specifically, Young argues that<blockquote>oppression is the inhibition of a group through a vast network of everyday practices, attitudes, assumptions, behaviors, and institutional rules. Oppression is structural or systemic. The systemic character of oppression implies that an oppressed group need not have a correlate oppressing group.<ref name=":7" /> </blockquote>Structural or systemic refers to "the rules that constitute and regulate the major sectors of life such as family relations, property ownership and exchange, political powers and responsibilities, and so on".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pogge |first=Thomas |title=World Poverty and Human Rights |publisher=Polity Press |year=2008 |edition=2nd |location=MA |pages=37}}</ref> Young's conception of oppression is therefore in contrast with other common notions of oppression, where an identifiable oppressing group is assumed. Another example of social oppression given by Young is when a specific social group is denied access to education that may hinder their lives in later life.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Justice and the Politics of Difference|last=Young|first=Iris|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1990|pages=1}}</ref> Economic oppression is the divide between two classes of society. These were once determined by factors such slavery, property rights, disenfranchisement, and forced displacement of livelihood. Each divide yielded various treatments and attitudes towards each group.

According to [[Marilyn Frye]], one of the most common characteristics of social oppression is the "double-bind", a situation where the oppressed are exposed to limited options, all of which incurring social penalty.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43311710 |title=Gender basics : feminist perspectives on women and men |date=2000 |publisher=Wadsworth/Thomson Learning |others=Anne Minas |isbn=0-534-52839-2 |edition=2nd |location=Belmont, CA |oclc=43311710}}</ref> An example of said situation exists for young women in the 21st century regarding sexual activity. Both sexual inactivity and sexual activity might incur a penalty. If a woman is sexually inactive, her parents might worry that she is abnormal, and men will complain that she is "frigid" and "uptight", while in the latter situation she may be condemned for being a whore.<ref name=":8" /> This scenario reveals how oppression may not necessarily be caused by individual oppressors, following Young's conclusions.<ref name=":7" />

Social oppression derives from power dynamics and imbalances related to the social location of a group or individual. [[Social location]], as defined by Lynn Weber, is "an individual's or a group's social 'place' in the race, class, gender and sexuality hierarchies, as well as in other critical social hierarchies such as age, ethnicity, and nation".<ref name=Weber>{{Cite book|title=Understanding Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality: A Conceptual Framework|last=Weber|first=Lynn|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-19-538024-8|edition=2nd|location=New York|oclc=699188746}}</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2016}} An individual's social location often determines how they will be perceived and treated by others in society. Three elements shape whether a group or individual can exercise power: the power to design or manipulate the rules and regulations, the capacity to win competitions through the exercise of political or economic force, and the ability to write and document social and political history.<ref>Ferguson, S. J. (Ed.). (2015). ''Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Social Class: Dimensions of Inequality and Identity''. SAGE Publications.</ref>

[[Jim Sidanius]] suggests that there are four predominant social hierarchies, race, class, gender and sexuality, that contribute to social oppression.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sidanius |first=Jim |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/39875228 |title=Social dominance : an intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |others=Felicia Pratto |isbn=0-521-62290-5 |location=Cambridge, UK |oclc=39875228}}</ref> [[Audre Lorde]], on the other hand, believes that there cannot be any hierarchy of oppression due to her experiences as both a Black and lesbian woman. In "There is no Hierarchy of Oppressions," she suggests that all oppressed groups share the same issue. She writes that "any attack against black people is a lesbian and gay issue", promoting the idea that due to intersectionality within a given group, all of its members and their respective groups are under threat, viewing the concept of oppression as originating from a root source which seeks to alienate all groups not in power.<ref>Lorde, Audre. "There is no hierarchy of oppressions." ''Bulletin: Homophobia and education'' 14.3/4 (1983): 9.</ref>

One aspect of social oppression's effectiveness is the stigmatization of "resistance": Resistance to oppression has been linked to a moral obligation, an act deemed necessary for the preservation of self and society.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hay |first=Carol |title=The Obligation to Resist Oppression |journal=Journal of Social Philosophy}}</ref> Resistance is sometimes labeled as "lawlessness, belligerence, envy, or laziness".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cudd |first=Ann |title=Strikes, Housework, and the Moral Obligation to Resist}}</ref>

===Privilege===
{{main|Social privilege}}
Lynn Weber,<ref name="Weber"/> among some other political theorists, argues that oppression persists because most individuals fail to recognize it; that is, discrimination is often not visible to those who are not in the midst of it. "[[Privilege (social inequality)|Privilege]]" refers to a sociopolitical immunity one group has over others derived from particular societal benefits.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privilege|title=Definition of PRIVILEGE|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920143749/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/privilege|archive-date=2017-09-20|url-status=live|access-date=2017-11-18}}</ref> Many of the groups who have privilege over gender, race, or sexuality, for example, can be unaware of the power their privilege holds. These inequalities further perpetuate themselves because those who are oppressed rarely have access to resources that would allow them to escape their maltreatment. This can lead to [[internalized oppression]], where subordinate groups essentially give up the fight to get access to equality, and accept their fate as a non-dominant group.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Freibach-Heifetz|first1=Dana|last2=Stopler|first2=Gila|date=June 2008|title=On conceptual dichotomies and social oppression|journal=Philosophy and Social Criticism|volume=34|issue=5|pages=515–35|doi=10.1177/0191453708089197|s2cid=54587410}}</ref>

Scholar L. Ayu Saraswati highlights the potency of privilege hidden within groups generally considered oppressed.<ref name=":9">Saraswati, L. Ayu, and Barbara L. Shaw. "Introduction to Women', Gender & Sexuality Studies." (2018).</ref> Such can occur within women, as [[second-wave feminism]] disproportionately focused on white women and their respective issues rather than women as a whole. This led to Black women and the higher level of economic challenges they were faced with being unaddressed, and often uplifted women only in a racially privileged position. According to Saraswati, by not fighting the presuppositions of racism, these actors in the women's movement failed to address their oppression at its root, simultaneously fighting for the issues of white women and accepting the societal structures which held Black women down. Even when Black feminists bring up issues of both gender and class, they often fail to account for heterosexual privilege amidst Black women, still supporting homophobic assumptions about sexuality and leaving many members of the movement behind.<ref name=":9" />

===Racial oppression===
{{main|Racism}}
Race or racial oppression is defined as "burdening a specific race with unjust or cruel restraints or impositions. Racial oppression may be social, systematic, institutionalized, or internalized. Social forms of racial oppression include exploitation and mistreatment that is socially supported."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reference.com/world-view/racial-oppression-bacab47f0ce758d|title=What is Racial Oppression?|newspaper=Reference.com|date=4 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425024203/https://www.reference.com/world-view/racial-oppression-bacab47f0ce758d|archive-date=2017-04-25|url-status=live}}</ref> In his 1972 work, ''Racial Oppression in America'', sociologist [[Bob Blauner]] proposes five primary forms of racial oppression in [[History of the United States|United States history]]: [[Genocide of indigenous peoples#American Indian Wars|genocide]] and [[Indian removal|geographical displacement]], [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], [[second-class citizen]]ship, non-citizen labor, and diffuse [[Racism in the United States|racial discrimination]].<ref name=":5">Blauner, B. (1972). ''Racial oppression in America''. Harpercollins College Div.</ref> Blauner states that even after civil rights legislation abolished legally-sanctioned segregation, racial oppression remained a reality in the United States and "racial groups and racial oppression are central features of the American social dynamic".<ref name=":5" />

===Class discrimination===
{{main|Class discrimination}}
Class oppression, sometimes referred to as classism, can be defined as prejudice and discrimination based on social class.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/classism|title=Definition of CLASSISM|website=merriam-webster.com|language=en|access-date=2017-04-24|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170425024521/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/classism|archive-date=2017-04-25}}</ref> Class is a social ranking system which is based on income, wealth, education, status, and power. A class is a large group of people who share similar economic or social positions based on their income, wealth, property ownership, job status, education, skills, or power in the economic and political sphere. The most commonly used class categories include upper class, middle class, working class, and poor class. Class is also experienced differently depending on race, gender, ethnicity, global location, disability, and more. Class oppression of the poor and working class can lead to deprivation of basic needs and a feeling of inferiority to higher-class people, as well as shame towards one's traditional class, race, gender, or ethnic heritage. In the United States, class has become racialized leaving the greater percentage of people of color living in poverty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.classism.org/about-class/|title=Class Action » About Class|website=classism.org|language=en-US|access-date=2017-04-24|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703001452/http://www.classism.org/about-class/|archive-date=2017-07-03}}</ref>

===Gender oppression===
{{main|Sexism}}
Gender oppression is a form of social oppression, which occurs due to belonging or seeming to belong to a specific gender.<ref>{{Citation |last=McAfee |first=Noëlle |title=Feminist Philosophy |date=2018 |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/feminist-philosophy/ |encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |editor-last=Zalta |editor-first=Edward N. |edition=Fall 2018 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=2022-12-08}}</ref> Historically, gender oppression occurred through actual legal domination and subordination of men over women. Even key aspects of social life traditionally seen as "neutral", such as language, can sustain gender oppression according to Gertrude Postl.<ref>{{Citation |last=Postl |first=Gertrude |title=Language, Writing, and Gender Differences |date=2017-09-19 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315758152-25 |work=The Routledge Companion to Feminist Philosophy |pages=292–302 |place=1 [edition]. {{!}} New York : Routledge, 2017. {{!}} Series: Routledge philosophy companions |publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781315758152-25 |isbn=978-1-315-75815-2 |access-date=2022-12-08|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This is due to sexist language and the lack of terms that relate to experiences specific to women. For example, the term "sexual harassment" was only coined in 1975.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Swenson |first=Kyle |date=November 22, 2017 |title=Who came up with the term 'sexual harassment'? |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/11/22/who-came-up-with-the-term-sexual-harassment/ |access-date=2022-12-08}}</ref>

Young argues that women in particular suffer from gender-based exploitation, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence.<ref name=":6" /> To illustrate, gender exploitation relates to how the common labor division between men and women can be exploitative. She argues that "gender exploitation has two aspects, transfer of the fruits of material labor to men and transfer of nurturing and sexual energies to men".<ref name=":6" /> Specifically, in a [[Heterosexuality|heterosexual]] relationship, women often take care of unpaid households chores and child care labor, which benefits both the man as the woman. In this sense, women are performing labor from which the man benefits and thus at least part of the value of this labor is transferred to the man. This exploitation need not be done consciously or even intentionally. As Young argues, oppression can occur without an active "oppressor".<ref name=":7" /> This definition of oppression attempts to address the concern that feminist theories unjustly blame men for the oppression of women. Men can sympathize with feminism, but still be complicit in the oppression of women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schubert |first1=Tinka |last2=Aguilar |first2=Consol |last3=Kim |first3=Kyung Hi |last4=Gómez |first4=Aitor |date=2021 |title=Stop Blaming me for What Others Did to you: New Alternative Masculinity's Communicative Acts Against Blaming Discourses |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=12 |page=673900 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.673900 |pmid=33986714 |pmc=8111297 |issn=1664-1078|doi-access=free }}</ref>

In her article on oppression, Marilyn Frye suggests a myopic approach is necessary to understand how in society at large, women are sequestered to a second class role.<ref name=":8" /> Though individual barriers, such as small actions resulting of social roles and expectations, may not provide too much of a barrier for any one woman, the interweaving of many of said actions through each day and each year eventually builds a net which very well might hold a woman in place, and keep her in the role she is ordered to maintain. One simple example is the custom of men holding the door for a woman, which may be well-intentioned, but implies that women are uncapable of doing simple tasks themselves.<ref name=":8" />

===Religious persecution===
{{main|Religious persecution}}[[Religious persecution]] is the systematic mistreatment of individuals because of their religious beliefs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What does religious persecution mean? |url=https://www.definitions.net/definition/religious+persecution |access-date=2018-11-04 |website=www.definitions.net |language=en}}</ref> According to Iris Young oppression can be divided into different categories such as powerlessness, exploitation, and violence.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Iris |url=https://archive.org/details/justicepoliticsoyoun/page/40 |title=Justice and the Politics of Difference |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0691078328 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/justicepoliticsoyoun/page/40 40]}}</ref>

An example of religious powerlessness existed during the 17th century when the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]], who wanted to escape the rule of the [[Church of England]] came to what is now called the [[United States]]. The Pilgrims created their own religion, which was another form of [[Protestantism]], and after doing so they eventually passed laws in order to prevent other religions from prospering in their colony. The Pilgrims and the leaders of other communities where Protestants were in the majority used their power over legislatures to oppress followers of other religions in the United States.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal |last=Blumenfeld |first=Warren |title=Christian Privilege and the Promotion of 'Secular' and Not-So 'Secular' Mainline Christianity in Public Schooling and in the Larger Society |journal=Equity and Excellence in Education |volume=39 |via=Ebscohost}}</ref>

The second category of oppression, exploitation, has been seen in many different forms around the world when it comes to religion. The definition of exploitation is the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=exploitation {{!}} Definition of exploitation in English by Oxford Dictionaries |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/exploitation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160929180336/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/exploitation |archive-date=September 29, 2016 |access-date=2018-11-05 |website=Oxford Dictionaries {{!}} English}}</ref> For example, during, and particularly after, the [[American Civil War]], [[white Americans]] used Chinese immigrants to build the [[transcontinental railroad]]s. During this time it was common for the Chinese immigrants to follow the religions of [[Buddhism]], [[Taoism]], and [[Confucianism]], because of this the Chinese were considered different and therefore not equal to white Americans. Due to this view Chinese workers were denied equal pay, and they also suffered many hardships during the time which they spent working on the railroad.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese immigration and the Transcontinental railroad |url=https://www.uscitizenship.info/Chinese-immigration-and-the-Transcontinental-railroad/ |access-date=2018-11-05 |website=www.uscitizenship.info}}</ref>

The third and most extreme category of oppression is [[violence]]. According to the [[Merriam-Webster's Dictionary|Merriam-Webster's dictionary]], violence is "the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy". Acts of [[religious violence]] which are committed against people who practice a particular religion are classified as [[hate crime]]s. Since [[September 11 attacks|September 11th, 2001]], the number of [[hate crime]]s which have been committed against [[Islam in the United States|Muslims in the United States]] has greatly increased. One such incident occurred on August 5, 2017, when three men bombed a [[mosque]] in [[Minnesota]] because they felt that Muslims "'push their beliefs on everyone else'".<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=Matt |date=14 March 2018 |title=3 Suspects in Bombing of Minnesota Mosque Face Weapons Charges |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/13/us/minnesota-mosque-bombing-suspects.html |access-date=2018-11-19}}</ref> Acts of religious violence are also committed against practitioners of other religions in addition to Islam.[[File:P religion world.svg|thumb|Different types of religious symbols]]
===Institutionalized oppression===
Institutional oppression occurs when established laws, customs, and practices systemically reflect and produce inequities based on one's membership in targeted social identity groups. If oppressive consequences accrue to institutional laws, customs, or practices, the institution is oppressive whether or not the individuals maintaining those practices have oppressive intentions."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcc.edu/resources/illumination/documents/institutionalized-oppression-definitions.pdf |title=Institutionalized Oppression Definitions |last1=Cheney |first1=Carol |last2=LaFrance |first2=Jeannie |last3=Quinteros |first3=Terrie |date=25 August 2006 |website=The Illumination Project |publisher=Portland Community College |access-date=2012-08-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907023850/http://www.pcc.edu/resources/illumination/documents/institutionalized-oppression-definitions.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2012 }}</ref>
[[File:Flickr - USCapitol - The Monroe Doctrine, 1823.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting representing the Monroe Doctrine, and a quote about oppression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt|[[U.S. Capitol]] – oil painting by [[Allyn Cox]] – The Monroe Doctrine (1823), plus a quote from President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] (1940).]]

Institutionalized oppression allows for government, religious, and business organizations and their employees to systematically favor specific groups of people based upon group identity. Dating back to colonization, the United States implemented the annihilation of [[indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] from lands that [[Euro-Americans]] wanted, and condoned the institution of slavery where Africans were brought to the [[New World]] to be a source of free labor to expand the cotton and tobacco industry.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Seabrook|first1=Renita|last2=Wyatt-Nichol|first2=Heather|title=The Ugly Side of America: Institutional Oppression and Race|journal=Journal of Public Management & Social Policy|volume=23|pages=1–28}}</ref>

Although the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|thirteenth]], [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|fourteenth]], and [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|fifteenth]] amendments freed African Americans, gave them citizenship, and provided them the right to vote, institutions such as some police departments continue to use oppressive systems against minorities. They train their officers to profile individuals based upon their racial heritage, and to exert excessive force to restrain them. [[Racial profiling]] and [[police brutality]] are "employed to control a population thought to be undesirable, undeserving, and under punished by established law".<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force|last1=Skolnick|first1=Jerome H.|last2=Fyfe|first2=James J.|year=1994|location=New York|pages=24}}</ref> In both situations, police officers "rely on legal authority to exonerate their extralegal use of force; both respond to perceived threats and fears aroused by out-groups, especially— but not exclusively— racial minorities".<ref name=":1" /> For example, "blacks are: approximately four times more likely to be targeted for police use of force than their white counterparts; arrested and convicted for drug-related criminal activities at higher rates than their overall representation in the U.S. population; and are more likely to fear unlawful and harsh treatment by law enforcement officials".<ref name=":0" /> The International Association of Chiefs of Police collected data from police departments between the years 1995 and 2000 and found that 83% of incidents involving use-of-force against subjects of different races than the officer executing it involved a white officer and a Black subject.<ref name=":0" />

Institutionalized oppression is not only experienced by people of racial minorities, but can also affect those in the LGBT community. In April 1953, US President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] issued [[Executive Order 10450]], which permitted non-binary sexual behaviors to be investigated by federal agencies.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Law and the Gay Rights Story : The Long Search for Equal Justice in a Divided Democracy|last=Walker|first=Frank|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2014|pages=14}}</ref> In addition, states such as [[Arizona]] and [[Kansas]] passed laws in 2014 giving religious-based businesses "the right to refuse service to LGBT customers".<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Violence against Queer People : Race, Class, Gender, and the Persistence of Anti-LGBT Discrimination|last=Meyer|first=Doug|publisher=Rutgers University Press|year=2015}}</ref> In 2018 and 2023, the [[US Supreme Court]] ruled against [[Colorado]]'s anti-discrimination laws in ''[[Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission]]'' and ''[[303 Creative LLC v. Elenis]]'' respectively.

[[School segregation in the United States]] is observed by some educators as oppression or [[Closure (sociology)|closure]]<ref>Fiel, Jeremy E. "Decomposing School Resegregation: Social Closure, Racial Imbalance, and Racial Isolation." ''American Sociological Review'', vol. 78, no. 5, 2013, pp. 828–48. {{JSTOR|43187507}}. Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.</ref> because students are denied access to resources and the privileged class is signaled that its denial of goods is justified.<ref>Lane, Ginny G., and Amy E. White. "The Roots of Resegregation: Analysis and Implications." ''Race, Gender & Class'', vol. 17, no. 3/4, 2010, p. 84. {{JSTOR|41674753}} Accessed 6 Feb. 2024.</ref><ref>Lawrence, Charles R. III. (2005) "Forbidden conversations: On race, privacy, and community..." ''Yale Law Review''. 114, p. 377.</ref>

===Economic oppression===
Economic oppression can take many forms, including, but not limited to, [[serfdom]], [[Unfree labour|forced labour]], low wages, denial of [[equal opportunity]], [[bonded labour|bonded labor]], employment discrimination, and economic discrimination based on sex, nationality, race, or religion.<ref>Kirst-Ashman, K. K., & Hull, G. H. (2012). Understanding Generalist Practice. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.</ref>

[[Ann Cudd]] describes the main forces of economic oppression as oppressive economic systems and direct and indirect forces. Even though capitalism and socialism are not inherently oppressive, they "lend themselves to oppression in characteristic ways".<ref name=":4">Cudd, Ann E. (2006). ''Analyzing Oppression''. Oxford University Press US. {{ISBN|0-19-518744-X}}.</ref> She defines direct forces of economic oppression as "restrictions on opportunities that are applied from the outside on the oppressed, including enslavement, segregation, employment discrimination, group-based harassment, opportunity inequality, [[neocolonialism]], and governmental corruption". This allows for a dominant social group to maintain and maximize its wealth through the intentional exploitation of economically inferior subordinates. With indirect forces (also known as oppression by choice), "the oppressed are co-opted into making individual choices that add to their own oppression". The oppressed are faced with having to decide to go against their social good, and even against their own good. If they choose otherwise, they have to choose against their interests, which may lead to resentment by their group.<ref name=":4" />

An example of direct forces of economic oppression is [[employment discrimination]] in the form of the [[gender pay gap]]. Restrictions on women's access to and participation in the workforce like the wage gap is an "inequality most identified with industrialized nations with nominal equal opportunity laws; legal and cultural restrictions on access to education and jobs, inequities most identified with developing nations; and unequal access to capital, variable but identified as a difficulty in both industrialized and developing nations".<ref name="Mupepi, Mambo 2016">Mupepi, Mambo (Ed.). (2016). Effective Talent Management Strategies for Organizational Success. Hershey: Business Science Reference. {{ISBN|1522519610}}.</ref> In the United States, the median weekly earnings for women were 82 percent of the median weekly earnings for men in 2016.<ref>Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, "Women's median earnings 82 percent of men's in 2016. https://www.bls.gov {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123041856/https://www.bls.gov/ |date=2017-11-23 }} (visited April 21, 2017)</ref> Some argue women are prevented from achieving complete gender equality in the workplace because of the "ideal-worker norm," which "defines the committed worker as someone who works full-time and full force for forty years straight," a situation designed for the male sex.<ref name="Mupepi, Mambo 2016"/>
[[File:A mother feeding her child.jpg|thumb|A mother taking care of her child by feeding them.]]
Women, in contrast, are still expected to fulfill the caretaker role and take time off for domestic needs such as pregnancy and ill family members, preventing them from conforming to the "ideal-worker norm". With the current norm in place, women are forced to juggle full-time jobs and family care at home.<ref>Kinnear, Karen L. (2011). Women in Developing Countries: a Reference Handbook. ABC-Clio. {{ISBN|9781598844252}}.</ref> Others believe that this difference in wage earnings is likely due to the supply and demand for women in the market because of family obligations.<ref>Magnusson, Charlotta.  (2010). "Why Is There A Gender Wage Gap According To Occupational Prestige?" Acta Sociologica (Sage Publications, Ltd.) 53.2: 99–117. Academic Search Complete.</ref> Eber and Weichselbaumer argue that "over time, raw wage differentials worldwide have fallen substantially. Most of this decrease is due to better labor market endowments of females".<ref>Weichselbaumer, D. and Winter-Ebmer, R. (2005). A Meta-Analysis of the International Gender Wage Gap. Journal of Economic Surveys, 19: 479–511. {{doi|10.1111/j.0950-0804.2005.00256.x}}</ref>

Indirect economic oppression is exemplified when individuals work abroad to support their families. [[Outsourcing|Outsourced]] employees, working abroad generally little to no bargaining power not only with their employers, but with immigration authorities as well. They could be forced to accept low wages and work in poor living conditions. And by working abroad, an outsourced employee contributes to the economy of a foreign country instead of their own. Veltman and Piper describe the effects of outsourcing on female laborers abroad:
<blockquote>Her work may be oppressive first in respects of being [[Heteronomy|heteronomous]]: she may enter work under conditions of constraint; her work may bear no part of reflectively held life goals; and she may not even have the: freedom of bodily movement at work. Her work may also fail to permit a meaningful measure of economic independence or to help her support herself or her family, which she identifies as the very purpose of her working.<ref>Veltman, A., & Piper, M. (Eds.). (2014). Autonomy, Oppression, and Gender. Oxford University Press.</ref></blockquote>

By deciding to work abroad, laborers are "reinforcing the forces of economic oppression that presented them with such poor options".<ref name=":4"/>

== Oppression and intersectionality ==
{{main|Intersectionality}}
A different approach on oppression, called the [[Intersectionality|intersectional approach]] was introduced by [[Kimberlé Crenshaw]] to refer to the various ways in which race and gender interact to shape the multiple dimensions of Black women's employment experiences.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Crenshaw |first=Kimberlé Williams |date=2008 |title="Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1229039 |journal=The Feminist Philosophy Reader |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=279–309 |doi=10.2307/1229039 |jstor=1229039 |s2cid=24661090 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>  Elena Ruiz defines intersectionality as a form of oppression containing multiple social vectors and overlapping identity categories such as sex, race, and class that are not ready visible in single identities, but have to be taken into account as an integral, robust human experience.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ruiz |first=Elena |date=2017 |title=Framing Intersectionality |url=https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315884424-24 |journal=The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Race |pages=335–348|doi=10.4324/9781315884424-24 |isbn=9781315884424 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

An intersectional approach to oppression requires attending to the differential ways different grounds for oppression such as gender, race, sexuality, class, religion, and so forth work together to create a unique situation for certain oppressed people. Crenshaw argues that viewing feminism as categorizing all women as one cohesive category of oppressed people obscures differences of experiences of oppression within such groups. A Black woman is not just the sum of the two categories.<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039| doi=10.2307/1229039| jstor=1229039| title=Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color| last1=Crenshaw| first1=Kimberle| journal=Stanford Law Review| year=1991| volume=43| issue=6| pages=1241–1299| s2cid=24661090| url-access=subscription}}</ref>

This intersectional approach has been influential in academic fields studying different forms of social oppression. However, although Crenshaw argues her intersectional approach captures important differences within certain oppressed groups, Patricia Hill Collins objects that her approach is unable to capture the macro-level systemic nature of intersectional oppression.<ref>Collins, P. H. (1995). Symposium On West and Fenstermaker's "Doing Difference." Gender & Society, 9(4), 491–513.</ref> In other words, Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality captures the individual experiences of oppressed persons that do not solely fall under one header of sexism, racism, or something else. However, it is not suited to capture the way, for example, sexism and racism work together at a (macro) societal level. Both conjoin to influence the unique experience of oppression as felt by, for example, Black women.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

Authors such as [[Jennifer Nash]] explore what the limits of intersectionality.<ref>Nash, J. C. (2008). Re-thinking Intersectionality. Feminist Review, 89, 1–15.</ref> For instance, does this approach only concern marginalized groups, or is everyone intersectional in some way. Guiding questions in this regard concern in what way an intersectional approach might bring to the surface certain previously obscured experiences of oppression.[[File:Kimberlé Crenshaw Laura Flanders 2017.png|thumb|[[Kimberlé Crenshaw]] introducing her concept of [[intersectionality]] at one of her lectures]]

===Feminism and equal rights===
{{main|Feminism}}
In her article "Feminist Politics," [[bell hooks]] discusses the intersectional challenges of the early feminist movements in the 20th century.<ref name=":9" /> She divides female activists into groups labeled the "reformist" and "revolutionary" feminists. Reformist feminists were often at the forefront of the media, primarily as a result of their unspoken support of other forms of oppression, and more easily met requests. The reformists represented the white female population, and as a result of existing within a world of [[white supremacy]], which their platform inherently supported, they were often considered the primary feminist movement. Revolutionary feminists, on the other hand, included Black and LGBTQ issues in their platform, wanting not to work within the current system simply to improve the rights of already privileged women, but to rework the system to be more supportive of all women from other marginalized groups. The American feminist movement was polarized by these two groups. Many women forgot about the promise of revolutionary feminism when they began to gain economic power as a result of the reformist movements partial success. This further set back those who wished to fight sexism and other kinds of oppression at the same time. Revolutionary feminist thinking was further pushed aside as even academic circles would not discuss it easily.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} Furthermore, reformist feminists, upon finding a route to class mobility, refused to acknowledge the now niche revolutionary feminist movement, as they had found a way to live in an economically powerful way in the current social system.<ref name=":9" />

=== Domination theory ===
Addressing social oppression on both a macro and micro level, feminist [[Patricia Hill Collins]] discusses what she calls the "[[matrix of domination]]".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment|last=Collins|first=Patricia Hill|publisher=Routledge |year=2000|isbn=978-0-415-92483-2|edition=2nd|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/blackfeministtho0000coll/page/295 295]|oclc=491072106|author-link=Patricia Hill Collins|url=https://archive.org/details/blackfeministtho0000coll/page/295}}</ref> The matrix maps the interrelated nature of four domains of power: the structural, disciplinary, [[hegemony|hegemonic]], and interpersonal domains. Each of these domains works to sustain current inequalities faced by marginalized, excluded, or oppressed groups. The structural, disciplinary, and hegemonic domains all operate on a macro level, creating social oppression through macro structures such as education, or the criminal justice system, which play out in the interpersonal sphere of everyday life through micro-oppressions.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

==See also==
{{columns-list|colwidth=18em|
* [[Abuse of power]]
* [[Anti-oppressive practice]]
* [[Authoritarianism]]
* [[Persecution]]
* [[Political repression]]
* [[Sexism]]
* [[Police oppression]]
* [[Triple oppression]]
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

<!-- Please do not remove the 'Sources' section (immediately below) without first discussing on the Talk page. Thank you!-->

==Sources==
* Cudd, Ann E. (2006). ''Analyzing oppression''. Oxford University Press US. {{ISBN|0-19-518744-X}}.
* Deutsch, M. (2006). A framework for thinking about oppression and its change. ''Social Justice Research, 19''(1), 7–41. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11211-006-9998-3 doi:10.1007/s11211-006-9998-3]
* Gil, David G. (2013). ''Confronting injustice and oppression: Concepts and strategies for social workers (2nd ed.)''. New York City, NY: Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|9780231163996}}  [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/846740522 OCLC 846740522]
* Harvey, J. (1999). ''Civilized oppression''. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. {{ISBN|0847692744}}
* Marin, Mara (2017). ''Connected by commitment: Oppression and our responsibility to undermine it''. New York City, NY: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|9780190498627}} [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/989519441 OCLC 989519441]
* Noël, Lise (1989). ''L'Intolérance. Une problématique générale'' (Intolerance: a general survey). Montréal (Québec), Canada: Boréal. {{ISBN|9782890522718}}. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20723090 OCLC 20723090].
* Opotow, S. (1990). Moral exclusion and injustice: an introduction. ''Journal of Social Issues, 46''(1), 1–20. [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1990.tb00268.x/full doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1990.tb00268.x]
* Young, Iris (1990). ''Justice and the politics of difference'' (2011 reissue; foreword by Danielle Allen). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|9780691152622}}  [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/778811811 OCLC 778811811]
* Young-Bruehl, Elisabeth (1996). ''The anatomy of prejudices''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-674-03190-6}}. {{OCLC|442469051}}.

==Further reading==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Guillaumin |first=Colette |date=1995 |title=Racism, Sexism, Power and Ideology |series=Critical studies in racism and migration |location=London |publisher=Routledge |oclc=441154357 |isbn=978-0-415-09385-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=Hobgood |first=Mary Elizabeth |date=2000 |title=Dismantling Privilege: An Ethics of Accountability |location=Cleveland, OH |publisher=Pilgrim Press |isbn=978-0-8298-1374-6 |oclc=42849654 }}
* {{cite book |last=Young-Bruehl |first=Elisabeth |date=1996 |title=The Anatomy of Prejudices |url=https://archive.org/details/anatomyofprejudi00younrich |url-access=registration |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-03190-6 |oclc=442469051}}
* {{cite book |last=Noël |first=Lise |translator-last=Bennett |translator-first=Arnold |date=1994 |title=Intolerance, A General Survey |url=https://archive.org/details/intolerancegener0000noel |url-access=registration |location=Montreal |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |isbn=978-0-7735-1160-6 |oclc=832466622 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Omi |first1=Michael |last2=Winant |first2=Howard |date=1994 |title=Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-90864-1 |oclc=963325772 |url=https://archive.org/details/racialformationi00omim_0 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Feagin |first1=Joe R. |last2=Vera |first2=Hernan |date=1995 |title=White Racism: The Basics |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-90918-1 |oclc=30399203 }}
* {{cite book |last=Solzhenitsyn |first=Alexandr I. |translator-last=Whitney |translator-first=Thoman P. |title=The Gulag Archipelago, 1918–1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, I–VII |url=https://archive.org/details/gulagarchipelago00solz |url-access=registration |edition=1st |publisher=Harper and Row |date=1973 |oclc=3953706 }}
* {{cite book |last=Kiernan |first=Ben |title=The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975–79 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |date=1996 |isbn=978-0-300-06113-0 |oclc=845153793 |url=https://archive.org/details/polpotregimerace00kier }}
* {{cite book |last=Cudd |first=Ann E. |date=2006 |title=Analyzing Oppression |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |series=Studies in feminist philosophy |isbn=978-0-19-518743-4 |oclc=702181996 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Deutsch |first=Morton |date=March 2006 |title=A Framework for Thinking about Oppression and Its Change |journal=Social Justice Research |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=7–41 |doi=10.1007/s11211-006-9998-3 |s2cid=145564250 }}
{{refend}}

{{Abuse}}
{{Discrimination}}
{{Secret police of Communist Europe}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Abuse]]
[[Category:Discrimination]]
[[Category:Injustice]]
[[Category:Majority–minority relations]]
[[Category:Neuroethology]]
[[Category:Power (social and political) concepts]]
[[Category:Social privilege]]
[[Category:Social concepts]]
[[Category:Social inequality]]