Sociological Perspective on Privelege

Social Location

Your social location is where you are situated in relation to others around you. 

• It’s your gender, race, class, education level, religion, etc. and their relation to the rest of the people around you.

Your social location affects how those around you treat you, what they expect of you, and how they will interpret your actions.

Social Inequality 101

If there is inequality in society, then some people benefit while others suffer from the inequality.

If you believe that a social problem is real, then you either:

• suffer from it
• benefit from it
• or are standing by being complicit

Privilege

“The result of our democratic inequality is that the production of privilege will continue to reproduce inequality while implying that ours is a just world.”

Just World Hypothesis

All actions have predictable and just consequences

• Confirms our invulnerability
• Helps us to differentiate ourselves from victims
• Bad things don’t happen to good people
• Found in the teachings of many religions

In our society we often “justify inequality by finding defects in the victims of inequality.” –William Ryan (1976)

“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” Malcolm X 

Who is doing the oppressing?

3 Lessons of Privilege (Shamus Khan)

Hierarchies are natural and can be used to one’s advantage

Experiences matter more than innate or inherited qualities

The way to signal your elite status to others is through ease and openness in all social contexts.

Access v Equality

Do we have a post-race/post-gender/post-class society?

If we allow people of varied backgrounds admission to the world that was formerly controlled by the elite, does that make our world equal?

Equity v Equality

St. Paul’s School

What was the main attribute of ‘successful’ students?

How was success defined differently for 

• female students
• Non-white students
• Less wealthy students

St. Paul’s v Modern day Colleges

What Khan describes is generally the same in terms of: 

• Work load
• Diversity
• Routine
• Hierarchy

Extraordinary Achievement

Most common notable trait of St. Paul’s graduates?

• WEALTH

Claims of St. Paul’s?

• Immense talent
• Hard work

Thus, are these students more deserving of wealth?

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