Critical psychology: Chapter Twenty-Two Flashcards
Liberation psychology
Define Liberation Psychology
involves questions of the psychological processes, dynamics, capacities and practices through which people maya chieve emancipation, freedom, liberation and escape from particular power structures of oppression and exploitation
What are the central arguments of liberation psychology (3)
- there are different sires and forms of oppression (race, class and sex/gender) this oppression should be seen as intertwined.
- there are links between large-scale social processes such as social structures, institutions and ideologies and personal subjectivities. these are complex and at times contradictory.
- there are always possibilities of revolt, resistance, challenge or subversion of the prevailing social order, but that such resistance is uneven, possibly painfully slow.
Define social structures
the underlying structures or organisation of society, the underlying social, economic and political relations that pattern society.
What are the three cardinal areas of concern?
- the nature of social formations
- questions of power
- issues of psychological subjectivity
Define hegemonic orders
various social structures by virtue of which various kinds of division and hierarchy become taken for granted, assumed unproblematic and accorded some degree of legitimacy.
What are the two classes of polarise?
- the bourgeoisie
- the proletariat
Define polarise
to cause to concentrate about two strongly conflicting or opposed positions
Define class struggle
struggle between exploited and exploiters, which may take many forms - economic, political, ideological, theoretical, although each of these subordinate to the political struggle.
Moane proposed a list of six processes involved in the establishment and maintenance of domination. List them.
- violence, involving mechanisms such as military force, invasion, conquest and occupation of territory as well as rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and sexual harassement.
- political exclusion from voting, government office, representation and subtle alienation of women from political terrain.
- economic exploitation involving a host of issues including income, wealth, poverty, tax systems, restrictions on trade, economic ownership, surplus value as well as exclusion from employment and unpaid household labour by women.
- sexual exploitation including prostitution, rape, sexual slavery, control of women’s sexuality and range of reproductive issues.
- control of culture including restriction of expression of indigenous languages, history, art-forms, the loss of language and lack of voice on the part of women and minorities.
- fragmentation, including use of divisions to prevent united opposition, manufactured of competition and distrust among oppressed and for women fragmentation due to dependency on men, labour market insecurity ad victim blaming.
Ideologies assist in maintaining relations of domination through discourses which say what?
a) what is the case = creating a sense of inevitability
b) what is good/bad = creating a sense of deference that is, submission or yielding to the wishes, opinions or judgement of another.
c)what is possible/impossible = creating a sense of resignation, that is, pessimistic view which fails to see possibility of alternatives.
Define ideology
ways in which meaning serves to create and sustain power relations of dominations. they are stories, narratives, discourses as well as practices that construct subjective positions for both rulers and ruled.
Define subject
notion insisting that people cannot be abstract out of their sociopolitical and/or historical contexts, that persons always exist in relation to the structures or values of power.
Define interpellation
ideological process in which a person is hailed or called in recognising this call and in responding to it, that person is positioned as a subject.
for example: a wolf-whistle, which is a practice and action meaning and a hailing, places women in subjugated and objectified.
Define Dialectics
originally, the notion of dialectics refers to debate or more particularly the art of knowing the truth through overcoming contradictions in an argument
Define subjectification
qualifying or positioning of persons as subjects where they have a speaking voice, an active social role to play, but within the overarching structures or concerns of a particular form of power
Define pastoral
of or relating to a pastor, to a moral or spiritual guide or a form of guidance
These new knowledge forms operate power through disciplinary means, which involve what?
- setting of norms
-standards
-discourses - guidelines
- warnings
-techniques of surveillance
What are the two forms of manufacturing subjectivities?
- one is where we are subject to someone else’s control, shaping and dependence
- the second, is the Foucauldian view in which power is more pervasive, subtle, enmeshing, is impossible to break free of, but which may be transformed in terms of new power/knowledge and new relations of subjectivities.
The individual is the container of a range of dispositions and unique attributes which are held within and this self-contained individual is the product of dynamics both inside and outside. Define this.
- Inside: in the form of biological inheritance and unique dispositions (personalities, traits, tendencies)
- Outside: in the form of the environment, culture and mechanisms of reward and punishment -the old “nature-nurture debate”
What is the relationship between individual and society? two contrary views.
- one takes the individual as passive, that is the outcome, or the victim of forces labelled as socialisation, conformity, obedience, rule-following
- the second, as in humanistic views, takes the individual as the active source of action, a creature who has individual needs, tastes, wishes and who can make choices and decisions impelled by inner states.
What is individual-social dualism?
this view sees both individual and society as separate entities, in a rather antagonistic relationship, opposed to each other.
If individual-social dualism is correct, then the task of liberation psychology would be what?
a) throw off the shackles of society
b) extend the choices and liberties of individuals
c) increase the search for our “authentic” inner selves
For emancipation to be possible people need what?
- alternatives
- other social values
- new ideals images of a better social order
Define servitude
lack of freedom, state of subjection
Define immanent critique
Marxist, critical focus on possible, feasible, better futures based on current conditions of possibility and which includes the specification of the agents of transfiguration
What are the two tales of modernity?
- one which sees enlightment, discovery, science, technology, the amelioration of human suffering and above all progress and hope.
- the other is much darker take of the rise of racism, colonialism, western imperialism, new forms of economic exploitation in capitalism, the continued subjugation of women and a substantial increase in large-scale wars and genocide, while torture continues unabated in many countries.
Define epoch
a particular period of time in history or a person’s life
Define dogma
a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true
Responses to the discontents of modernity have taken what three paths?
- those who wish to turn back the clock, traditionalists and conservatives, who yearn for old customary ways and return to harsh punishment and pure race.
- those who wish to extend and hasten the enlightenment project in the form of better reason, more progress, new discoveries, expanding the reach of technologies, increased growth and development.
- Those, perhaps called post-modernists, who hope to supersede modernism by going beyond the founding ideas of modernism shake the faith in “reason” “science” “progress.
Define globalisation
increasing interconnectedness of various parts of the world through communication technologies and trade
What are a few psychological consequences of modernism?
- alienation
- insecurity
- dehumanisation
- internalised oppression
- anxieties
- fear
- depression
- helplessness
Define Manichean
approach to culture in which all values and concepts are split into binary opposites one that is positive (white) and the other negative (Black)
Modernity has also inventively produced many techniques of resistance, namely?
- boycotts
- strikes
- go slows
- hunger strikes
- sit-ins
- protests
- slogans
Define social constructionism
paradigm of knowledge based on the idea that events, objects and selves - including all the psychological stuff that goes on “inside individuals” head’s do not have a pre given or essential reality but are constituted through the language we use to describe them.
Define meta-narrative
privileged form of explanation, an account, a tory or a theoretical system that is treated a superior to all others in its explanatory abilities.
Define anti-essentialism view
approach to subjectivity which suggests that persons are not fixed, predetermined, immutable or unchanging essences rather, persons as subjects, self-aware and with capacities for action, are made up in relation to other persons, we are positioned and also actively position ourselves, in certain kinds of selves.
What are the three approaches to psychology of oppression?
- authoritarianism
- social identity theory
- social dominance theory
Define authoritarianism
tendency to submit willingly to strong authority figures above and to act punitively towards weaker groups below.
- attempts to link economic and subjective factors.
Define right-wing authoritarianism
form of authoritarianism with robust links to ethnocentrism, prejudice, support for conservative policies and anti-democratic tendencies.
Define ethnocentrism
belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group
Define social identity theory (SIT)
sees both individual processes and social processes as operative in the formation of social identities.
Define social dominance theory (SDT)
general intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression which claims that dominance is driven by three main processes:
- aggerated individual discrimination
- aggregated institutional discrimination
- behavioural asymmetry.
Dominance is driven by what three main processes?
- aggregated individual discrimination (daily, simple, quite inconspicuous individual acts)
- aggregated institutional discrimination
(Group rules, procedures, and actions of institutions, which also involves systematic terror, violence and threatened violence, particularly when subordinates are directly challenging) - behavioural asymmetry
(Involving differences in behaviours repertoires of group members at different levels of the hierarchy, in which subordinates’ evidence both passive and active cooperation with their own oppression and it is this which provides oppressive hierarchies with their remarkable degrees of resilience and stability)
Define social dominance orientation (SDO)
general orientation through which people favour hierarchically structured and non-egalitarian relationships between groups.
What are the four factors of social dominance orientation?
- dominant group members are likely to be higher
- socialisation issues such as education, religion and personal experiences.
- tempermental predispositions such as empathy
- gender, in terms of which males are more likely to evidence higher levels of SDO
Bulhan gave a synthesis of the revision thesis in terms of three major forms of psychological defence and identity development among oppressed people. name and define them.
- Capitulation
defensive processes akin to identification with the aggressor, enhance assimilation into dominant culture and rejection of own group culture. this is the classic mark of oppression phenomenon. - Revitalisation
resilience and resistance and active repudiation of dominant culture and defensive romanticism of indigenous cultures. - Radicalisation
synthesis of the earlier moments along with an unambiguous commitment to radical change.
What is the upshot of our brief historical tour of the scars of bondage thesis?
- the mark of oppression is not simply a psychological state that exists, but rather a formulation which operates in a sea of discourses about such a purported state.
- secondly, it embodies a paradox: claims of “damage” and claims of strength, positive qualities and active resistance.
- Thirdly, the more recent revisionist notions come chiefly among dominated groups, and it is these voices which have recognised strength, pride and resistance along with the scars and marks.
Moane suggest four main themes of oppression
- subjectivity
- emotional expression
- intragroup relations
- mental health issues
Define Moane’s four consequential themes of oppression
- subjectivity
the notion of doubling in self-consciousness of a Manichean worldview dividing the world into “us” and “them”, good and bad. - emotional expression
strong emptions such as anger and rage are inhibited and constricted or denied due to fear of ridicule, retaliation or claims of overreaction. - intragroup relations
one of the most Widley reported consequence of oppression is that of horizontal hostility or lateral violence; due to difficulties or directing violence towards the dominant group it turned against the in-group including domestic violence - mental health issues
among those who have the least resources and who face the greatest hardships of daily living, the rate of mental health problems is likely to be elevated.
Name the three areas of implicating psycholgical patterns for the oppressors
- one area suggests a Nero complex involving obsessions with establishing legitimacy and self-justification.
- a second area involves processes of dehumanisation and objectification = a form of emotional blunting. oppressors lose feelings and empathy for the disadvantaged and transform this into discourses of victim-blaming and frequently further punitive treatment of those inferior. loss of sense of justice and fairness.
- a third area entails denial in many forms turning a blind eye, seeing what we want to see, blocking out awareness. those in dominant positions commonly deny the extent or even the occurrence of atrocities
Define nero complex
obsessive preoccupation with establishing legitimacy and justification for ones acts and oneself, accompanied by delusions of arrogance, entitlement and narcissism.
What are the four forms of denial?
- outright denial (didn’t happen)
- discrediting the source and method of report
- renaming and retelling (it was not quite like that)
- justification (it happened but was morally defensible)
Define jingoism
extreme types of nationalism characterised by both fierce patriotism and an aggressive attitude to other countries or nationalities
Jingoism involves what?
- self-deceit
-justification of brutality - a one-sided view
- arrogance
-bizarre reasoning - no empathy for others
- dishonesty
- denial
What are this big 5 of emapnicpation?
- political oppression
- patriarchy
- economic exploitation
- cultural imperialism
- ecological destruction
Define habitus
a mediating link between objective social structures and individual action. it involves a set of dispositions that incline agents to act and react in a certain pattern and fairly habitual ways
Define praxis
notion that both reflection (awareness) and action (visible protest) are required to effect social transformation
What are the five clusters of requirement for liberation psychology?
- critical analysis
- self-definition
- collective organising
- collective action
- spatial re-formations
Define critical analysis
- involves awareness, insight, consciousness of the prevailing oppressive situation.
- it asks for a naming or renaming of the immediate situation along with new narratives, without resorting to abstract utopias of political futures.
- process of debunking, unveiling
Define self-definition
- this is a politics of subjectivity
- subordinate people will have to provide self-definitions, a self0determination of naming, labelling and badging. (Slogans like black is beautiful)
-strategy to overcome existing divisions among the oppressed.
Define collective organising
- a characteristic of any period of significant change is numerous new organisations appear on the landscape
- organisation also become a home refuge, a form of pride, a source of innovative discourses and a means of reaching out across existing divisions.
Define collective action
- the distinction between collective organising and collective action is a fine one
- the former = more behind the scenes, the latter = public visibility, action as spectacle
- protests, which is risky business
- authorities are likely to retaliate and public action could be illegal at the risk of retribution like imprisonment or beatings.
Define spatial re-formation
- spatial dimensions are not often given mention
- there has been increased recognition of spatial and bodily aspects of subjectivity.
- a momentary reflection reveals a significant spatial dimension to all forms of subjugation
-spatial metaphors like exclusions, borders, hierarchies, boundaries, dividing lines, buffer zones and safe havens - all forms of subjugation involve spatial remoulding: seizing land, segregating, separating, spatial restrictions, rezoning, apartheid, fencing, walls
apart from challenging the materiality of space, tearing down barriers to enable liberation we also need to question the dominant spatial discourses of subjugation, which revolve around what three major polarities of metaphors?
- hierarchy (up and down)
- distance or centrality (core and periphery; centre and margins)
- spheres (public or private)
Seedat provided a temporal, developmental grid consisting of four interlocking phases
- disillusionment: a sense of alienation and foreignness contributes to immobilisation
- reactive critical engagement: ambiguous strands of accommodation and resistance. vacillation between progressive and mainstream positions. good intentions
- constructive self-definition: a proactive endeavour. aims to locate psychology within parameters of the political economy.
- emancipatory discourse, praxis and immersion: draw on paradigms that emphasise diversity and pluralism. ensure that procedures or knowledge represents full human diversity.
Why do people appear reluctant to change?
- on one had everywhere there is change, people ineluctably shift, move, seek out new challenges, live identities as ever shifting life projects.
- on the other hand, the poor become poorer, it seems difficult to change men, oppressive regimes fall only to be replaced with equally corrupt ones, environmental despoliation grows worse
