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Legitimation of Oppression: Response and Reflexivity
Author(s) -
Wolf Charlotte
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
symbolic interaction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.874
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1533-8665
pISSN - 0195-6086
DOI - 10.1525/si.1986.9.2.217
Subject(s) - oppression , legitimation , obedience , reflexivity , resistance (ecology) , sociology , epistemology , social psychology , gender studies , political science , psychology , law , social science , philosophy , politics , ecology , biology
The basic question addressed in this article is why people in inferior and devalued strata submit to oppression. It is my thesis that the legitimation of oppression is one of the key issues for subordinate people and that the study of the creation and processes of legitimation among such groups will shed light on the phenomenon of human obedience or of resistance to oppressive rule. The core of the study consists of (1) the development of a model of the legitimation process and (2) the use of examples from the experiences of oppressed groups to illustrate dimensions of this process.