‘I Am a Man’

Countering Oppression through Appeal to Kind Membership

Bibliographic Data

ID21497512
AuthorsSuzy Killmister (0000-0003-1082-783X, Monash University Clayton VIC Australia, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume40
Issue5
Pages919-935
Publication date2023-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Applied Philosophy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0264-3758 • E-ISSN: 1468-5930
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/japp.12678
OpenAlexW4384153815
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited24

All too often, social kinds function as sites of oppression. To be a woman, to be Black, to be trans – each, in its own way, situates someone at the lower end of a social hierarchy. Membership in such groups thus constitutes a liability: notwithstanding the goods people draw from sharing in these identities, they also stand at perpetual risk of those same identities exposing them to significant harm. What, if anything, can members of oppressed groups do to counter that oppression? In this article I explore one possible strategy: people can – and do – strategically invoke their membership in what I call ‘anti‐oppressive kinds’, in order to contest the oppression they face qua members of oppressed groups. Focusing on one particularly salient anti‐oppressive kind, the human, I first offer an explanation as to how and why its invocation might be politically effective, before considering some hazards with its use

Appeal · CONTEST · Harm · Invocation · Oppression · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Feminism, Gender, and Intersectionality · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies · Gender Studies · Law

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