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. My white (and other) privilege in action Let me start this section with a personal anecdote….
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FollowElon 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 3-14-23] ‘…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 bit 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. Like Critical Race Theory, this new perspective has a heavy emphasis on history, the phenomena of intersectionality, and how each of the privileging forces are structured into cultural systems. The Hydra is a mythical beast with many heads, each…
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…
Read MoreConfronting toxic othering exercise
[Updated 3-16-23] Confronting toxic othering exercise ‘…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 Universal Declaration of Human Rights [Note: This exercise is an example of how to employ critical Hydra theory (CHT) discussed elsewhere on this blog. For additional context the reader is invited to explore other posts on this blog.] Overview This exercise builds on the insights and methodologies of Critical Race Theory (CRT). The purpose of this exercise is to generate examples of how toxic othering has been confronted at all levels, local, national, and global. One of the most important wisdom‘s from CRT is that we must interrogate the history of racism and how racist ideologies have been entrenched into laws, policies, norms, and general expectations…
Read MorePositionality and the Hydra
‘…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 [Updated 3-16-23] [Trigger warning: Inherent in the nature of the material covered in this post are topics and exercises which may be triggering.] Positionality and the Hydra In my continuing journey to expand on what I have been calling ‘critical Hydra theory’ and to better understand privileging forces I have been thinking a good deal about positionality. Dimensions of our identity influence how we both see and are seen by others. This exercise is a companion to and should be done after exploring one’s status array. Positionality can be defined as “… the social and political context that creates our identity in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability…
Read MoreHans Rosling’s book Factfulness and critical Hydra theory
“The problem of the poor is not the problem, the problem is the rich.” -Miles Richardson [Note: This and other posts will become part of a revised edition of Confronting Toxic Othering] Hans Rosling’s book Factfulness and critical Hydra theory More on critical Hydra theory My quest to more fully understand the genealogy of privileging forces continues, and below I present my less-than-optimistic view on why confronting toxic othering and systemic marginalization is perhaps a Sisyphean task. In brief, an ethos of privilege -based on gender, class, race, religion, i.e, that some people are inherently superior to others- permeates all cultures at such a deep level that world-wide change may be impossible. Common Reading Not unlike many other educational institutions, every year my university assigns a common reading intended for all incoming students. The expectation is that ideas presented in this book will be talked about in a wide…
Read MoreChrys Stevenson reviews Confronting Toxic Othering for The Australian Humanist
Book review I am excited to post a review of Confronting Toxic Othering: Understanding and Taming the Hydra by Australian author and critic Chrys Stevenson. Her review was published in the Winter 2022 edition of The Australian Humanist and is being used below with permission. Work on a revised edition of Confronting Toxic Othering: Understanding and Taming the Hydra is currently in progress with plans for re-publication in September, 2022. Power and Privilege: the ‘Hydra’ Model of Intersectional Discrimination Chrys Stevenson reviews Confronting Toxic Othering: Understanding and Taming the Hydra by Dr Tom Arcaro “Intersectionality is a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects.” – Kimberlé Crenshaw Tom Arcaro is a professor of sociology at Elon University with a special interest in humanitarian aid. Arcaro has made it his mission to understand how power and privilege function to…
Read MoreBeginning a genealogy of privileging forces: racism, classism, and colonialism/paternalism
“I’ve never understood what’s the point of supporting gay rights and nobody’s else’s rights, you know? Or workers rights but not women’s rights? It’s, I don’t know, illogical.” -Mark Ashton to Dai in Pride (2014) Beginning a genealogy of privileging forces: racism, classism, and colonialism/paternalism Overview Below is a largely conjectural and theoretical beginning to a conversation about the history of privilege. I build on and then expand the work pioneered by critical race theorists in attempting to describe and explain how false consciousness plays a key role in establishing and maintaining unjust social structures. Deepening critical Hydra theory Effectively confronting toxic othering means deepening our use of critical hydra theory (CHT). One way this can be done is by looking at how all of the privileging forces represented by heads of the hydra are embedded into all contemporary cultural structures. This means looking deeply into our past nationally, regionally, and…
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