Undoing Privilege Unearned Advantage in a Divided World

For every group that is oppressed, one or more other groups are privileged in relation to it. InUndoing Privilege, Bob Pease argues that privilege, as the other side of oppression, has been given insufficient attention in both critical theories and in the practices of social change. As a result, dominant groups have been allowed to reinforce their dominance.Undoing Privilegeexplores each of the main sites of privilege, from Western dominance, class elitism and white and patriarchal privilege to the less well examined sites of heterosexual and able-bodied privilege, examining the interconnections between them. The book's analysis points out that while the vast majority of people may be oppressed on at least one form of stratification, many are also privileged on another. Pease also demonstrates that members of privileged groups can develop a self-critical engagement with their own dominant position, and explores both the potential and the limitations of such individuals becoming allies against oppression and their own unearned privilege.This is an essential book for all of those who are concerned about developing theories and practices for a socially just world.

Bob Pease is Chair of Social Work in the School of Health and Social Development at Deakin University in Geelong, Australia. He has published widely in the fields of masculinity studies and critical approaches to social work practice and is the author or co-editor of ten previous books. His most recent co-edited books are the International Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities (Routledge 2007), Migrant Men: Critical Studies of Masculinities and the Migration Experience (Routledge 2009) and Critical Social Work: Theories and Practices for a Socially Just World (Allen and Unwin 2nd edition 2009). He has been involved in profeminist masculinity politics for many years and actively engaged in campaigns to end men's violence against women.

Part 1. Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations
1. Oppression, Privilege and Relations of Domination
2. The Matrix and Social Dynamics of Privilege
Part 2. Intersecting Sites of Privilege
3. Western Dominance and Colonialism
4. Political Economy and Class Elitism
5. Gender Order and the Patriarchal Dividend
6. Racial Formations and White Supremacy
7. Institutionalised Heterosexuality and Hetero-privilege
8. Ableist Relations and the Embodiment of Privilege
Part 3: Undoing Privilege
9. Challenging the Reproduction of Privilege from Within