Identity and Oppression: Differential Responses to an In‐Between Status

Abstract

Oppression operates at various levels, with varying degrees of negativity, and groups respond in markedly different ways. In this paper, the in‐between status of the colored South African group is used to illustrate issues of identity and oppression under the Apartheid system—and differing ways in which oppression was experienced and used. The colored group had many social advantages over Blacks, but were also used to oppress that group. Habituation, accommodation, and relative advantage were identified as dynamics within the broader context of power and privilege that contributed to cultural and psychological marginality and status ambivalence of the coloreds. These processes must be understood within the historical, social, and political context of the community. What is evident from the data is that groups and individuals can take up various positions along a continuum of oppressor—oppressed, depending upon the contexts, time, and social and legal relationships involved in their interactions.

Moral panic neutralization project: a media‐based intervention

“…We agree with Prilleltensky's (2003) that more action needs to be taken by community psychologists with respect to liberating oppressed groups via psycho-political education. We also agree with Sonn and Fisher (2003) that empowerment is a critical component of the liberation process. However, like Moane (2003), we respectfully suggest that education or empowerment is insufficient to affect liberation or prevention of oppression.…”

Dominant Cultural Narratives, Racism, and Resistance in the Workplace: A Study of the Experiences of Young Black Canadians

“…Community psychologists have drawn on various theoretical perspectives to examine experiences and processes of resistance, such as empowerment (Christens, 2012), sociopolitical development (Watts, Williams & Jagers, 2003), and liberation (Garc ıa-Ram ırez, Manuel, Paloma & Hern andezPlaza, 2011). A small but notable body of community psychology scholarship has examined various strategies for resisting dominant cultural narratives, such as the deconstruction of social myths as a central part of critical consciousness raising (Sonn & Fisher, 2003), and the telling of counter-narratives, re-imagined narratives of the self that reject the assumptions of dominant cultural narratives, and emphasize the capacity to resist and overcome oppression (Case & Hunter, 2012;McDonald et al, 2007;Rappaport, 2000). Much of this work signals the importance of identity-focused strategies for negotiating dominant cultural narratives, and points toward a broader body of scholarship on identity work (more recently referred to as narrative identity work), which is concerned with the construction and strategic use of personal and collective identity through narrative (Case & Hunter, 2014;Ibarra & Barbulescu, 2010;Snow & Anderson, 1987).…”

Histórias do apartheid, memória e pertencimento entre a população da diáspora sul-africana na Austrália

“…Sonn (2003) relatou que as pessoas reagiram de várias maneiras ao rótulo. Algumas o contestaram, dizendo que era usado com o propósito político de subjugação e fragmentação da comunidade negra, e outras o viam como inevitável e parte do sistema: "Era normal para as pessoas (serem vistas como coloureds), você nasce dentro do sistema".…”