Power, Intersectionality, and Privilege

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the sociological theories and concepts of power, hegemony, the panopticon, institutional dimensions of oppression, intersectionality, and cumulative privilege.

Sociology

The scientific study of society, social worlds, structures, people in groups, and everyday actions and relationships constructed through struggles over ideology, representation, and power.

Power

The capacity to achieve some kind of outcome, which can operate collectively or positively and is most effective when least noticeable and observable.

One-Dimensional View of Power

A visible dimension of power defined by direct conflict between individuals, organizations, or countries; it can be legitimate or illegitimate, and relying on force within it is unsustainable in the long run.

Two-Dimensional View of Power

A less visible dimension of power present in all aspects of life that operates through agenda setting to control which issues or debates are permitted to arise.

Three-Dimensional View of Power

The most effective and hidden form of power, where the powerless embrace the interests of the powerful as their own; it secures compliance, maintains the status quo, and prevents change by shaping perceptions, manipulating fear, prejudice, or lack of information without needing overt authority.

Hegemony

A concept developed by Antonio Gramsci referring to power secured through consent and compliance rather than through overt force or direct action.

Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937)

An Italian political theorist imprisoned for his views who authored the Prison Notebooks and theorized the concept of hegemony (power through consent).

Panopticon

Jeremy Bentham's circular prison design featuring a central inspection tower, utilized by Michel Foucault to illustrate surveillance and how relational power secures compliance without total physical force.

Relational Power (Foucault)

Michel Foucault's concept that power exists dynamically within relationships, is never total, and always contains possibilities for resistance and social movements.

State

All political institutions of any society—including bureaucracy, lower levels of administration, and systemic structures—that exercise power through mechanisms such as tax and transfer policies and the welfare state.

Business Confidence Theory

A theory examining the relationship between the state and powerful elites, suggesting that the state prioritizes corporate confidence and business interests to ensure general economic stability and growth.

Dimensions of Oppression/Privilege (Harding, 1989)

A framework outlining three interrelated levels through which power and oppression operate: institutional, symbolic, and individual.

Institutional Dimension of Oppression

The structuring of systemic inequalities through formal social institutions (such as slavery, where race, class, and gender interlock), frequently masked or obscured by claims of equal opportunity.

Symbolic Dimension of Oppression

Widespread, societally sanctioned ideologies and controlling images used to justify relationships of domination and subordination, often relying on false assumptions of universality.

Individual Dimension of Oppression

The personal dimension where categories of analysis (race, class, and gender) frame personal biographies, making personal choices political acts that reflect the cumulative effects of living within oppressive structures.

Intersectionality

An analytical lens rooted in the work of the Combahee River Collective and coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw to analyze how interlocking axes or categories of oppression shape complex lived realities, social positionings, and systemic violence.

Cumulative Disadvantage

The systemic compounding of negative social, economic, and health conditions across a person's life course and generations due to structural oppression and historical roots.

Cycle of Poverty

A compounding structural loop wherein growing up in poverty restricts access to stable housing, food, and healthcare, increasing poor health outcomes, restricting educational opportunities, and limiting living-wage jobs.

Privilege (Unearned Cumulative Advantage)

Unearned cumulative advantages enjoyed by individuals solely because they belong to social identity groups that have historically held positions of dominance, including white, male, heterosexual, able-bodied, and wealthy groups.

Privileges of Privilege

Specific manifestations of unearned systemic advantage experienced by dominant groups, identified as acceptance, freedom of movement, and ignorance of systemic barriers.

Myth of Meritocracy

An ideology that helps maintain privilege by falsely attributing success purely to individual ability and effort, thereby hiding silence, the monopolization of opportunities, and the control of societal rewards.