Synopsis:
In her article, Kelly Rae Kraemer provides an overview of the ways in which allies can become problematic in social movements, with particular focus on the ways in which activism may be affected by social privilege and oppression. Kraemer outlines two different kinds of activists: core activists and allies. Core activists are the oppressed groups or individuals whose injustices are being acted upon, while allies are members of other socially defined groups who seek to alleviate the hardships of the core groups (Kraemer, 2007). Unfortunately, issues may arise through the collaboration of these two types of activists that stem from the social privilege that many allies hold in society. Privileged allies can unfortunately bring negative factors to social movements such as dominant behaviour and hidden agendas (Kraemer, 2007). Kraemer (2007) explains that through an improved understanding of privilege and oppression, allies may better contribute to social movements and facilitate change in more appropriate and inclusive ways inclusive ways.
Rationale:
Kraemer’s article is important because it explains how privileged allies can be detrimental to social movements, while simultaneously outlining how allies can effectively support oppressed groups. Kraemer (2007) explains that oppressed individuals cannot “not know” oppression, while socially privileged individuals can simply “not know” the fact that they are privileged, or that others are constantly oppressed in society. This can lead to privileged individuals willingly ignoring the oppression of other groups without any negative impacts to their lives (Kraemer, 2007). Additionally, privileged allies are often a part of social groups who benefit from the oppression of subordinate groups, which can create further willful ignorance in individuals who do not wish to lose their social privilege. (Kraemer, 2007). These facts are important to understand in order to aid in the fight for equality.
URL/Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-0130.2007.00407.x
Keywords: Oppression, Privilege, Accountability
Author: Austin
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