Examining and expanding on the concept of ‘privilege’ through the lens of the Hydra model
Examining and expanding on the concept of ‘privilege’ through the lens of the Hydra model An essay cum learning exercise [Note: This essay is a useful companion to my discussions of status array and positionality.] [Trigger warning: Inherent in the nature of the material covered in this post are topics and exercises which may be triggering.] A basic premise of critical Hydra theory (CHT) is this: included among the myriad social forces that impact all human life are the eight privileging forces represented by the heads of the Hydra. Using CHT one can gain a greater awareness of how these social forces impact their lives and the lives of others not only locally but universally around the globe. Simply put, social forces, especially privileging forces, impact one’s life chances, in many cases dramatically so. Around the heads of the Hydra: my white (and other) privilege in action Let me start…
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FollowExploring the canon inspiring Critical Hydra Theory
“We have chosen each other and the edge of each others battles the war is the same if we lose someday women’s blood will congeal upon a dead planet if we win there is no telling we seek beyond history for a new and more possible meeting.” -Audrè Lorde “Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought.” -Matsuo Basho “It would be advisable to think of progress in the crudest, most basic terms: that no one should go hungry anymore, that there should be no more torture, no more Auschwitz [or Gaza or Cox’s Bazar]. Only then will the idea of progress be free from lies.” -Theodor Adorno Critical theory, Critical Race Theory, and Critical Hydra Theory Though I could not have described it as such, I began my journey confronting toxic othering many decades ago0. It was the mid 1970’s…
Read MoreOpen letter to Women’s Peace Cafe attendees, Dhaka, Bangladesh 8 August 2023
Open letter to Women’s Peace Cafe attendees, Dhaka, Bangladesh 8 August 2023 Esteemed students, staff, faculty, and friends, I have very pleasant and vivid memories of our short time together at the Women’s Peace Café last week. I found your attentiveness extraordinary, your questions on point and challenging, and your hospitality warming. Here is the article in The Business Standard reviewing our event. During our conversation I believe several points I made resonated with many of you and also I gave you a couple assignments or challenges. Below I review and extend some of my main points. Additionally, you are welcome to read this which I wrote when I was in Cox’s Bazar at a three day workshop focusing on power, justice, and how to use the Hydra model to better understand global issues. Listen to those who are marginalized One of the first challenges I gave you was creating…
Read MoreThoughts on the denormalization of marginalization
[This was written the morning after I had been honored to participate in a certificate awarding ceremony hosted by the Centre for Peace and Justice at the home offices of their Refugee Studies Unit located 1km from the Ukhiya Rohingya refugee camps south of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. This is a partial draft of what I plan to say to the Women’s Peace Cafe attendees in a couple days from now in Dhaka.] Thoughts on the denormalization of marginalization I want to use an example to facilitate our understanding of the denormalization of marginalization in action, and that example is on the logo behind me, the Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ), and the way that this organization is functioning. Every day CPJ is a perfect example of allyship1. Not only is it a great example of organizational allyship, every individual within the organization functions as a positive ally. What…
Read MoreImagining life before the Hydra: The Nole Exercise
“The better angel is a man right fair…” -William Shakespeare, Sonnet 144 (1599) “So do the shadows of our own desires stand between us and our better angels, and thus their brightness is eclipsed”. -Charles Dickens in Barnaby Rudge, 1841 Imagining life before the Hydra: The Nole1 Exercise A time before the Hydra? In a previous blog post [chapter] I sketch out a history of the eight privileging forces represented by the heads of the Hydra. Based on anthropological and archeological evidence, I argue that if one goes back in human history far enough, back to pre-agricultural times, the Hydra is non existent and social life is largely characterized by a marked lack of socially structured inequalities. All the privileging forces are muted by an egalitarian ethos necessary for the survival of the group. Hunting and gathering life is not perfect, but all evidence indicates that beyond age and…
Read MoreAn overview of colonialism/paternalism
DRAFT An overview of colonialism/paternalism A synergy of privileging forces The essay below will discuss the colonialism/paternalism head of the Hydra and argue how classism and racism are linked to colonialism/paternalism. Entire books have been written about the legacies of colonialism, so what appears below is only a primer. This essay (chapter) extends and reinforces the previous post (chapter) “Beginning a genealogy of privileging forces: racism, classism, and colonialism/paternalism”. Virtually every global social problem is tied at least indirectly to the many legacies of colonialism. We do not live in a postcolonial era (in the same way that the post-racial era is a myth). Until all formerly colonized peoples are free of the effects of colonialism, we still live in the colonial era despite the practice itself not occurring anymore, at least in its most overt forms. Can there be a reversal of the negative impacts of colonialism? That remains…
Read MoreElon University students consider Critical Hydra Theory
Elon University students consider Critical Hydra Theory (CHT) Introducing CHT in a 100 minute class Recently I presented the concept of Critical Hydra Theory to 4 classes of Elon University students. Included were three sections of our first year seminar The Global Experience taught by my colleague Dr. Karen Wirth and the fourth my Introduction to Sociology class. The vast majority of these students are first year’s and none had heard of CHT before this class. Dr. Wirth and I had our students write an essay about what they took away from the session. Below are the five best submissions. Each of these exceptional students will have a modest donation made on their behalf to a humanitarian cause of their choosing. Critical Hydra Theory By Emma Hash On a globe scale, true equality is not something that we have obtained since the beginning of agriculture. Once there was…
Read MoreBasic tenets of Critical Hydra Theory
[Updated 8-4-23] ‘…the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world…’ -from the first sentence of the Preamble to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights Critical Hydra Theory ‘Critical Hydra Theory’ (CHT) is similar to but broadly expands on ‘Critical Race Theory’ (CRT). It is more comprehensive, interrogating not just race and ethnicity but all of the privileging forces which have historically served to marginalize the majority of humans, both past and present. Perhaps the biggest difference is that CHT includes anthropocentrism, an ‘othering’ of non-human life on our Earth. CHT has a demonstratively global perspective and seeks to provide a framework of analysis interrogating all social forces which have contributed to systemic marginalization of non-privileged status groups throughout history. Like Critical Race Theory, this new perspective has a…
Read MoreSociology, critical Hydra theory, and social justice: online teaching with Azizul Hoque
Sociology, critical Hydra theory, and social justice: online teaching with Azizul Hoque Leading an online class for refugees I talk several times per week with my Bangladeshi colleague Azizul Hoque, an education specialist with the BRAC University Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. We have been working together since the spring of 2021 when we began working on an online sociology and social justice course which combined Bangladeshi learners and Rohingya refugees. Our ten week course was a success and culminated in a virtual ceremony attended by all the learners and with a special guest appearance from (CPJ Executive Director Manzoor Hasan. I wrote a good deal about this experience on this blog. See here, here, and here for just a few examples. Azizul and I have worked together on the curricula for an online course he is currently leading that has learners from both Kenya and Bangladesh,…
Read MoreStatus array exercise using the Hydra model
Status array exercise using the Hydra model [Trigger warning: Inherent in the nature of the material covered in this post are topics and exercises which may be triggering.] [Updated 3-16-23] Introduction As with all of the exercises designed to explore critical Hydra theory (CHT) there needs to be a skilled facilitator to guide participants through each step, clarify definitions and usages of words, and insure all aspects of each step are explored thoroughly. Exploring and understanding your status set though the lens of the Hydra model starts with a quick and simple status count and, using some basic tools from sociology, ends up by discussing the concept of master status. The exercise below will be helpful in understanding the concept of positionality discussed here. This exercise must be seen as the beginning of many discussions about power, privilege, and status arrays and as part of a larger and even more…
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