STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE

What is Structural Violence?

It is a term commonly ascribed to Johan Galtung, which he introduced in the article

"Violence, Peace, and Peace Research" (1969).

It refers to a form of violence wherein some social structure or social institution may
harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs. Institutionalized
adultism, ageism, classism, elitism, ethnocentrism, nationalism, specialism, racism, and
sexism are examples of structural violence as proposed by Galtung.

According to Dr. Paul Farmer, Structural violence is one way of describing social
arrangements that put individuals and populations in harm’s way… The arrangements
are structural because they are embedded in the political and economic organization of
our social world; they are violent because they cause injury to people … neither culture
nor pure individual will is at fault; rather, historically given (and often economically
driven) processes and forces conspire to constrain individual agency. Structural
violence is visited upon all those whose social status denies them access to the fruits of
scientific and social progress.

Johan Galtung’s Conceptualization of Violence

 Violence is about preventing human beings from achieving their physical and
mental potential. Violence is present when human beings are being influenced so that
their actual somatic and mental realizations are below their potential realizations.

Friedrich Engels once said,

“When one individual inflicts bodily injury upon another, such injury that death results,
we call the deed manslaughter; when the assailant knew in advance that the injury
would be fatal, we call his deed murder. But when society places hundreds of
proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and unnatural death,
one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it
deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which
they cannot live—forces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such
conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequence—knows that
these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its
deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual; disguised, malicious
murder, murder against which none can defend himself, which does not seem what it is,
because no man sees the murderer, because the death of the victim seems a natural
one, since the offence is more one of omission than of commission. But murder it
remains.

- The Condition of the Working Class in England, Vol. 4, Marx Engels Collected
Works (New York: International Publishers, 1975), pp. 393–394,

Violence Triangle of Johan Galtung

 DIRECT VIOLENCE

VISIBLE

INVISIBLE

CULTURAL VIOLENCE STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE

According to Galtung’s Violence Triangle (1969), Cultural and Structural Violence cause
Direct Violence. Direct Violence reinforces Structural and Cultural violence. Direct
Violence, Physical and/or verbal, is visible as behavior in the triangle. However, this
action does not come out of nowhere; its roots are cultural and structural.

Three Types of Violence

Direct Violence

Direct violence can take many forms. In its classic form, it involves the use of physical
force, like killing or torture, rape and sexual assault, and beatings. Verbal violence, like
humiliation or put-downs, is also becoming more widely recognized as violence. Johan
Galtung, further, describes direct violence as the “avoidable impairment of fundamental
human needs or life which makes it impossible or difficult for people to meet their needs
or achieve their full potential. Threat to use force is also recognized as violence.”

Cultural Violence

It is the aspects of the symbolic sphere, the culture of our society that is used to justify,
or legitimize direct or structural violence. Cultural violence is the prevailing attitudes and
beliefs that we have been taught since childhood and that surround us in daily life about
the power and necessity of violence. Almost all cultures recognize that killing a person
is murder, but killing tens, hundreds or thousands during a declared conflict is called
‘war’ or killing of innocent people by the security forces are often declared as caught in
the crossfire.

Cultural violence makes direct and structural violence look, even feel, right ─ or not
wrong. The evidence of structural violence exists in western countries not meeting every
day basic needs (clean water, health care, education) of some resident minority
populations.

Structural Violence

It is widely defined as the systematic ways in which a regime prevents individuals from
achieving their full potential wherein the action is built into the structures of society,
which show up as unequal power and unequal life chances, the unequal distribution of
resources and the unequal distribution of power to decide over the distribution of
resources.

Characteristics of Structural Violence

Depersonalized

Structural Violence has no clear perpetrator, but particular powerful interests are at work
and violence manifests itself as unequal power and consequently as unequal life
chances (Galtung)

On-going and pervasive

It goes beyond independent events

Invisible

Violence has been converted into structures of power that are normalized and
routinized, so it has become part of everyday life.

Kinds of Structural Violence

 Elitism

Elitism as we all know is the rule of the privileged minority in the society. In Mosca’s the
The Ruling Class, he proclaimed that all societies, ‘two classes of people appear – a
class that rules and a class that is ruled. In his view, the resources or attributes that are
necessary for rule are always unequally distributed, and further, a cohesive minority will
always be able to manipulate and control the masses, even in parliamentary democracy
(Heywood 2013). In his article Evans (n.d.) stated that the rulers (elite) of the society
constitute a socially cohesive group that is ‘closed off’ from the ruled and territorially
based within a nation state. He also added that its members are selected by virtue of
their economic, political or ideological resources.

Elitism in Philippine Context

Philippines as the “First Malayan Republic” (Zaide 1965) is known as a third world
country in Southeast Asia. It acquired the moniker “Rising Tiger” of Asia, due to the
development of its economic and political reforms. But, behind this success, it has been
regarded that the Philippines is ruled by an elite group; an irresponsible elite group. Our
elite of power and wealth is extremely diverse. Their members range from the genteel
remnants of the colonial haciendero families to the grossest political-warlord clans
(Gatbonton 2010). The Philippine society is complemented by business elites and
political elites such as dynasties of families.

Standing of Elites in the Society

Elites are not that bad in our society as long as it help and support the marginalized
ones. According to Heywood (2013), Noblesse Oblige means the ‘obligation of the
nobility.’ In general terms, the responsibility to guide or protect those less fortunate or
less privileged. But, some elites in the Philippines forget or is not aware about the
concept of Noblesse Oblige, thus making them the irresponsible elites.

To Elitists, what holds the people is this lack of superiority. Elitism recognizes the need
for people to be governed, and decides that elitists should rule because of all the
material power around, which they have the most. In theory, by making those with the
most possession the ones in power there will be order due to the elites keeping it
together in order to sustain their foothold in society.
But that has not been always the case. In Mendoza, Beja Jr., Venida and Yap’s article
Inequality in democracy: Insights from an empirical analysis of political dynasties in the
15th Philippine Congress published in 2012, Coronel (2007) suggests that a combination
of factors like wealth, popularity, political machinery, alliances, myth, and violence
contribute to the formation of political dynasties. Undeniably, Coronel’s given factors are
correct for Boehringer (2013) also argues that, however we look at it, wealth remains
the dominant factor in Philippine Elections. Politicians together with its supporters
withdraw lots of money before the election for vote buying. Philippine politics, along with
other aspects of society, rely heavily on kinship and other personal relationships.

In the Philippine context, in order to win an election whether it is national or local, a

candidate must always be popular. Also, the candidate must always have a connection
to other elite groups or families in order to increase its followers and supporters.
Violence also, is a factor to the formation of political dynasties in the Philippines. Iraq
ranked first for the most dangerous country for journalists because of the dispute back
then with USA. Not until that nightmare of the 23rd day of November where at least 57
men and women were brutally murdered in Maguindanao (Manzano 2011). One of the
victims who died in the massacre was Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu. They
were on their way to the provincial capital to file his candidacy papers for
Maguindanao's governorship in next year's general elections. It's a position that
Ampatuan's father had occupied unopposed since 2001 and which Ampatuan planned
to contest to keep the seat in the family (McIndoe 2009).

Philippines as a Presidential and Democratic type system adheres to popular

responsiveness in which citizens are free to run in elections. Due to this fact, Filipinos
often vote by popularity and can easily be bribed by money during elections. For this
reason elites run in Government, especially in the legislative body, in order to pass or
suggest laws that will protect and develop their own businesses. They make
connections with other elite businessmen in order to ensure its position in the
government.

Additionally, in a book published by the Director of the Institute of Business

Administration in Karachi, Pakistan, he showed how elitism affects the economy of a
State. Giving Pakistan as an example of an elitist State, he noted that one percent (1%)
of state’s population is composed of an elitist class that has the ability to rig the market
and hijack the state for their benefit. He added, “This small minority was able to enjoy its
unjust accumulation of wealth in the midst of widespread poverty” (Dawn, 2011).

In summary, some elite families form cohesive group to support each other and form
dynasties. At first they will ensure that the position will remain in their family and then
followed by the allied elite family or sometimes presides by their future relatives. In
contrast, other elites are subjected in a competition with other elites. In Evans (n.d.)
article about Elitism, Mosca argued that Elite circulation will usually occur through
inheritance but, from time to time, power will pass into the hands of another class due to
the failure and collapse of political formula. The fall of one elite group will cause the rise
of another.

Two types of Elitism

Power Elite Model: Single, Coherent Elite

ELITE

MASS
Competitive Elite Model: Fractured Elite

ELITE

ELITE
MASS ELITE

MASS
MASS

ELITE ELITE

MASS MASS
  Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is a universal human reaction found in all known societies, in all groups
and in practically all individuals. Everyone learns ethnocentrism while growing up. The
possessiveness of the small child quickly translates "into my toys are better than your
toys", closely related to the concept of cultural relativity is the concept of ethnocentrism.
The world ethno comes from Greek and refers to a people, nation, or cultural grouping,
while centric comes from Latin and refers, of course to the center.

Ethnocentrism is the practice of comparing other cultural practices with those of one's
own and automatically finding those other cultural practices to be inferior. It is the habit
of each group taking for granted the superiority of its culture. It makes our culture into a
yardstick with which to measure all other cultures as good or bad, high or low, right or
queer in proportion as they resemble ours.

Summer defined ethnocentrism as “that view of things in which ones’ own group is the
centre of everything and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it.” From this
definition, Horton and Hunt deduce that it is the habit of every group of taking for
granted the superiority of its culture. It means that every culture considers itself superior
to other cultures. Similarly, the people of every nation feel pride and claim superiority
upon other nations. The sense of superiority upon others.

Examples of Ethnocentrism

1. The Americans think themselves as the “progressive” while the Eastern cultures
call them immoral.
2. The Pakistanis call themselves as brave, hard-worker and faithful people.
 3. The Arabs call themselves hospitable.
4. History is often taught to glorify the achievements of one’s own nation, and
religious, civic and other groups disparage their competitors openly.
5. Westerners put a value on industriousness that seeing someone else sitting
around and not doing work is perceived as “being lazy”.
6. Men believe that they are superior to women.

Negative Effects of Ethnocentrism as Structural Violence

1. It creates tight boundaries among various social groups.

2. The inter-group relations are hampered due to prejudice against another.
3. The process of social relations among various groups gets slower.
4. It limits an individual in a small social group to which he belongs.
5. It can create a culture that is blinded by their own self-righteousness.
6. It drives us to make false assumptions regarding cultural differences.
7. It creates consequences within our own society and with others.

 Classism

What is Classism?

The institutional, cultural, and individual set of practices and beliefs that assign
differential value to people according to their socio-economic class. It is when someone
is treated differently—better or worse—because of their class (or perceived class).
Others recognize it as similar to racism, sexism, heterosexism and other forms of
oppression.

Class

A class consists of a large group of people who share a similar economic and/or social
position in society based on their income, wealth, property ownership, job status,
education, skills, or power in the economic and political sphere.
Determined by:

a) Economic Capital (what you own or earn)

b) Social Capital (who you know)
c) Cultural Capital (What you know)

Class Identity

A label for one category of class experience, such as ruling class, owning class, middle
class, working class, and lower class.

a) Ruling Class - The stratum of people who hold positions of power in major
institutions of the society.

b) Owning Class/Rich - The stratum of families who own income-producing assets

sufficient to make paid employment unnecessary.

d) Middle Class - The stratum of families for whom breadwinners’ higher education
and/or specialized skills brings higher income and more security than those of
working-class people.

e) Upper-Middle Class - The portion of the middle class with higher incomes due
to professional jobs and/or investment income.

f) Lower-Middle Class - The portion of the middle class with lower and less stable
incomes due to lower-skilled or unstable employment.
 g) Working Class - The stratum of families whose income depends on hourly
wages for labor.

h) Lower Class/Poor - The stratum of families with incomes insufficient to meet

basic human needs.

Classism can affect all classes

There are no real winners in this system – just different kinds and levels of losers.

Working Class

With regards to workers, the working class have been alienated from their own
organizations (the Trade Unions) and their movement (organized labor) by the
coordinator class and their professional managerial culture; that rigged economics
systematically disempowers the working class, and despite being a minority, elites get a
much bigger slice of the economic pie than the majority.

Sometimes, people who are poor or working class, internalize the society’s destructive
beliefs and attitudes and turn them against themselves and others of their class. These
can include feelings of inferiority to higher-class people, shame about one’s traditional
class or ethnic heritage, and superior attitudes toward people lower on the class
spectrum, resulting in the conviction that classist institutions, policies, and practices are
fair. These are the sometimes hidden injuries and wounds of classism.

Ruling/Owning Class

Everyone is placed at a disadvantage when they have a limited interaction with their
world, no matter how much money or material wealth they have acquired. Being rich
and “superior” can also cause a sense being alienated from the society; that compared
to majority of the people they are privileged and gifted with resources. Ironically, most
people in this class remain largely unaware of their economic privilege.

And upon becoming aware of their economic privilege, wealthy people can suffer from
the guilt, shame and depression often associated with the realization that they may not
feel like they deserve what they have, and that much of what they have may have come
at the expense of other people.

Types of Classism

a) Individual Classism - refers to classism on a personal or individual level, either in

behavior or attitudes, either conscious and intentional or unconscious and unintentional
with regards to social standing.

Individual classism affects individuals by alienating or excluding them from the society.
A person who believes they innately deserve a situation of poverty and squalor cannot
and will not become motivated to fight against nearly impossible odds to elevate their
situation, and thus affects their self-esteem.

b) Institutional Classism - refers to the ways in which conscious or unconscious

classism is manifested in the various institutions of our society. Simply-put it is an
assigned value to a class given by an institution or when there is discrimination against
a person in a certain class, at an institution or firm.

It affects individuals or a class working on such institutions because it can cause them a
perception of being inferior to other classes within the workplace. As such this kind of
classism bestows privileges to those who already have privileges and denies it to those
who have little-to-no means.

c) Cultural classism – classism that is manifested through our cultural norms and
practices. It is often rooted in the ideology behind an idea. It is a construct rooted in
different cultural beliefs.

It can cause damage to self-worth. To expound, those people who experience classism
through culture will have a hard time practicing their cultural norms and with this, they
will be ashamed of using their own culture because it is subjected to humiliation and
discrimination.

Possible Solutions to Classism

a) Educate yourself
b) Use your resources to help others
c) Avoid ostentatious living, if possible
d) Model Non-Classist Behavior and Attitudes
e) Create an Inclusive culture and a welcoming environment
f) Take a public stand

 Racism

Racism is a socially constructed idea that believes on the idea that a particular
race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s moral traits and capabilities are
predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racism existed throughout
human history. This idea can be define as the hatred of one person by another – or the
belief that a certain person is less than human – due to its physical appearance such as
skin colour or somehow to its language, customs, place of birth or any factor that
supposedly reveals the basic nature of the person. The existence of racism resulted to
numerous wars, slavery, the formation of nations, and legal codes.

Racial separatism comes with the idea that there exists the differences among
races and thus different races should remain segregated and separated from one
another. Same with other concepts, racism is also divided to (2) two levels – Individual
Level, which talks on the individual biases and the existence of racism among
individuals and Systematic Level, the existence of racism on the different existing
institutions in the society.

Individual Level

Internalized Racism – this talks about the individual biases and different beliefs that a
certain person possessed. These biases were actually shaped and influenced by their
own culture.

Interpersonal Racism – these biases occur among individuals during interaction with
each other. This comes with the exchange of ideas with one another that actually
shaped the mind of a certain individual on what racism is all about.

Systematic Level

Institutional Racism – these talks on the different institutions (schools, workplaces, etc.)
in the society that executes unjust and unfair policies that only favours those who they
believe are the superiors of the society. Insufficient attention was given to different
races since those who belong to different race were considered as different.
Structural Racism - this refers to the racial biases among institutions and across the
society. This resulted on how do institutions and individuals influence and treat people
based on their colour. People do have suspicion to those who are not white especially
when they are shopping, traveling or seeking employment – all of which can result in
discriminatory treatment and unequal outcome.

The existence of racism can actually result to slavery, discrimination, the feeling of fear,
hatred, low self-esteem, cruelty, harassment and psychological pain. This makes other
feel uncomfortable and unsafe in the society. They feel that no one cares about them
that they believed that they are different from the others and that they do not belong to
the society. It affects individuals and the wider community.

 Sexism
“Sexism describes the ideology that one gender is superior to another.”

Sexism is both discrimination based on gender and the attitudes, stereotypes, and the
cultural elements that promote this discrimination. Given the historical and continued
imbalance of power, where men as a class are privileged over women as a class, an
important, but often overlooked, part of the term is that sexism is prejudice plus power.

Also, sexism means discrimination based on sex. Sexism can be compared to racism;
in both the differences between two (or more) groups are viewed as indications that one
group is superior or inferior. Sexism can refer to either the belief of the person doing the
discriminating or their words and behavior. (Lewis, 2016)

Origin of the word sexism:

The word "sexism" became widely known during the Women's Liberation Movement of
the 1960s. At that time, feminist theorists explained that oppression of women was
widespread in nearly all-human society, and they began to speak of sexism instead of
male chauvinism. Whereas male chauvinists were usually individual men who
expressed the belief that they were superior to women, sexism referred to collective
behavior that reflected society as a whole.

Sexism and Gender Discrimination

Sexism refers to attitudes, decision-making, policies, or assertions that intrude gender

into issues where it is not needed, or that make stereotypical assumptions or
generalizations about people based on their gender.

“Women can’t be firefighters” is a sexist remark because it is false and has no basis;
there is no reason or need to exclude women from the ranks of firefighters merely
because of their gender alone. Fires don’t care who fights them.

Gender discrimination is making a decision about some issue taking a person’s gender
into account. It is almost always unnecessary, though there are occasional exceptions.
For example, if you are hiring firefighters and you won’t even let women apply, that is
unfair gender discrimination. You should let them apply even if only 5% of the applicants
can pass the test. (Adams, E.W, 2016)

Common examples of Sexism:

1. Job Denial Sexism

Some sexist people believe that women do not have the strength to perform certain
jobs. For example, a power company may not believe that a woman can climb a pole
and connect service. Some companies do not believe that women are strong enough
lift heavy loads or drive vehicles with precision. A sexist corporation may deny a
qualified female a job because of the aforementioned sexist views. Normally,
corporations do not state that their reason for not hiring the person is sexist.
However, some managers slip up sometimes and make comments such as, “You
may be better suited for an office job,” which is an example of blatant sexism or sex
discrimination.

2. Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is a type of sexism that occurs mostly to women. However, some
men do report that they are victimized in sexual harassment situations. Sexual
harassment is a situation in which a co-worker or a person in an authoritative position
pressures another person to date or perform sexual acts. The individual may promise
the victim a promotion or an increase in pay. In the worst cases, the person may
threaten to terminate the victim if he or she refuses. The EEOC receives more than
11,000 sexual harassment complaints per year. Approximately 84 percent of those
complaints come from women.

Another example of sexual harassment is when a co-worker touches another worker’s

body, comments on his or her body parts, or makes sexist jokes. Hanging up Playboy
model pictures at a cubicle is an additional example of sexual harassment.

3. Victim Blaming

More than 200,000 instances of sexual assault occur every year. Many of those
instances involve women. Sadly, society turns some of those female victims into
culprits by using victim blaming. Victim blaming occurs when sexist views cloud other
people’s perception of an incident. For example, society may accuse an attractive
and provocatively clothed woman of inciting a rape or another type of sexual assault.
Rape is an act of power and violence. No woman asks a man to rape her. Clothing
and appearance rarely have anything to do with the male’s motives in a rape case.
Still, sexist people will accuse an attractive woman of doing something to provoke the
act of rape.

Ways to Stop Everyday Sexism

1. Say Something Definitive

Some decisive statements can be made in response to a sexist comment that are
not confrontational. They include statements such as, “I can’t permit you to make those
kinds of comments in my presence,” “It isn’t funny to make [inaccurate] comments like
that,” or “Is that something you would say if your mother, wife, sister, or daughter were
in my shoes?”

Obviously you can tweak them a little bit, but the message for the other person is
clear: Watch what you say.

2. Address It

In order for sexism not to become a pattern of interaction between you and the
person should it be a social relationship, a job, or to prevent the person from treating
other women the same, it’s best to take on sexism immediately. As soon as a sexist
comment or action has been made, call it out either by using a stock phrase or
indicating your discomfort, dislike, or unresponsiveness. This shuts down the possibility
for repetition.

3. Don’t Wait for Other People

Don’t expect someone else to come to your defense or to say something on your
behalf. For a man to interject is demeaning and sexist in its own right – own the
interaction not because you are at fault but because you can stand up for yourself.
Speak for yourself. Have a set of girlfriends who will back you up if you get into an
uncomfortable situation and whom you will support should they advocate for
themselves, but not to speak for you.

4. Surround Yourself with Good People

If you are in a safe environment with supportive people where you feel comfortable
directly responding instead of brushing off a comment, it can be empowering to call out
an inappropriate and/or biased statement. This allows the previous options to be used
all at once, giving you support and a soapbox. Best of all, if in a safe space, those who
make sexist or ignorant comments and actions will definitely learn from their mistakes.

Despite discomfort, addressing everyday sexism is necessary for progress to

occur. We all need to regard each other as individuals as opposed to a gender. Given
the importance of language in shaping our thoughts, shutting down the pattern of low-
key sexist speech is essential to changing attitudes and behavior. In other words, more
power to us

 Adultism

“If we are to be successful in our work with young people, we have to tackle the

pervasive existence of adultism. We use the word adultism to mean all those behaviors
and attitudes which flow from the assumption that adults are better than young people
and entitled to act upon young people in a myriad of ways without their agreement.”

– John Bell, Co-founder of YouthBuild, USA

What is Adultism?

It refers to behaviors and attitudes based on the assumption that adults are better than
young people, and entitled to act upon young people without their agreement. Social
institutions, laws, customs, and attitudes reinforce this mistreatment.

1. Bias towards adults

2. Addiction to adults
3. Discrimination against youth.

Essence and Concept

The essence of Adultism is disrespect of the young. Our society, for the most part,
considers young people to be less important than and inferior to adults.
The concept of adultism, the systematic mistreatment and disrespect of young people is
relatively new and has not been widely accepted as a reality.

Common Statements

“You’re so smart for fifteen!”

“When are you going to grow up?”

“Don’t touch that, you’ll break it!”

“As long as you are in my house, you’ll do it!

“You’re being childish.”

“You’re so stupid (or clumsy, inconsiderate, etc.)!”

“Go to your room!”

“Don’t ever yell at your mother like that!” (yelling)

“She doesn’t understand anything.” (about a baby)

“You are too old for that!” or “You’re not old enough!”

“Oh, it’s only puppy love.”

“What do you know? You haven’t experienced anything!”

“It’s just a stage. You’ll outgrow it.”

Societal Adultism

Laws
There is a different set of laws for young people. They do not have the same rights as
adults. Of course, some laws specifically protect young people from mistreatment but
other laws unduly restrict the life and freedom of young people. Curfew ordinances that
exist in many communities apply to young people but not to adults.

Institutional Examples

Young people in this country are forced to go to school for 12 years, whether school is
an effective learning environment for them or not. If their spirit, energy, or learning style
does not dovetail with the prevailing teacher, school, or educational philosophy, they
begin to “fail”, have “special needs”, are “tracked”, and may eventually be labeled as a
“dropout”.

School Examples

Schools subject students to incredible control through the use of hall passes, detention,
suspension, expulsion, and other penalties. Any community certainly needs rules to live
by, but the rules in most school communities are imposed on young people and
enforced by the adult staff.

 Nationalism
What is Nationalism?

Nationalism is an ideology that gives a nation a sense of unity by imposing on them the
same set of identities (for instance linguistic, historical, cultural). Especially peculiar to
nationalism is defining the nation against an Other inside or outside of the state borders.

Nationalism could be generally defined as “the set of attitudes, claims and directives for
action ascribing a fundamental political, moral and cultural value to nation and
nationality and deriving obligations (for individual members of the nation, and for any
involved third parties, individual or collective) from this ascribed value”.

Other definitions of Nationalism

 The attitude that members of a nation possess when they care about their identity
as members of that nation, and the other is the actions that these members of that
nation take in order to achieve or sustain political sovereignty.

 Nationalism as a disregard for others’ national and human dignity

 Nationalism as a struggle for survival

Forms of Nationalism

Liberal Nationalism

Liberal nationalism is a form of nationalism which generally posits along with other
forms that the human kind is naturally divided into a collection of nations however the
key difference is that liberal nationalism links the idea of a nation to popular sovereignty.
Liberal nationalists uphold the principle of national self-determination, the equality of
individuals and the universality of human rights. As principled as liberal nationalism is its
correlation with violence cannot be overlooked due to the fact that it connotes the idea
that you are part of a collective identity which then separates you from foreigners and
thus when war comes it usually becomes a reason for individuals to fight, kill and die for
their “country” with disregard as to whether or not their nation’s cause is just and right.

Conservative Nationalism

Conservative nationalism is a form of nationalis, which focuses on the promise of social

cohesion and public order embodied in the sentiment of national patriotism. It views the
nation as an organic entity, which manifests from the desire of humans of seeking for
their security and identity. It posits that shared values and experiences throughout
history allows individuals to gravitate and cohere towards each other forming a nation.A
primary example where violence emerges in conservative nationalism is through the
overthrow of the British Colonial Government within the United States of America
through violent revolutions where Americans united against the British due to the
oppression they shared amongst each other throughout the British colonial rule.

Expansionist Nationalism

Expansionist nationalism is a form of nationalism where in its character is aggressive,

militaristic and expansionist. It is the complete opposite of liberal nationalism. In its
extreme form expansionist nationalism arises from a sentiment of intense nationalist
enthusiasm from the success of a military expansion or an imperial conquest. A
prominent theme in expansionist nationalism is the notion of national rebirth where in
leaders of nations recall the grandeur of their nation in the past and in recalling it sparks
motivation to work towards the greatness it formerly possessed. A primary example is
Hitler’s desire of forming Greater Germany and integrating ethnic Germans from
Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland into what he calls the “Third Reich. Another
example is Hitler’s desire of the Aryan race dominating the world.

 Heterosexism

Began to be used as a term analogous to sexism and racism, describing an

ideological system that denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any nonheterosexual form
of behavior, identity, relationship, or community (Herek, 1990). Using the
term heterosexism highlights the parallels between antigay sentiment and other forms of
prejudice, such as racism, anti-Semitism, and sexism (Psychology of the University of
California 2012).
 The assumption that HETEROSEXUALITY is the social and cultural norm as well
as the prejudiced belief that “straight” people, are socially and culturally superior to
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Two Spirit and queer (LGBTTQ) people (The
Rainbow Research Centre, 2017).

LGBTQ: Acronyms and its meaning

Lesbians - An individual who identifies as a woman and who is predominantly sexually

and romantically attracted to other women.

Gays - An individual who identifies as a man and who is predominantly sexually and
romantically attracted to other men.

Bisexuals - An individual who is sexually and romantically attracted to men and women.

Transgender - An individual who identifies as the opposite sex from the sexual genitalia
that he/she was born with.

Queer - Sometimes used to express that sexuality and gender can be complicated and
change over time for lots of people (Planned Parenthood.Org., 2017).

Heterocentrism

An (often subconscious) assumption that everyone is heterosexual, and the

attitudes associated with that assumption (The Rainbow Research Centre 2017).

Heterosexual Privilege

Heterosexual privilege is an advantage automatically given to heterosexual

persons simply because they are heterosexual. This is similar to the privileges
Caucasian persons receive because of their race or men receive because they are
male. A few examples of heterosexual privilege include being able to display simple
affection in public without the fear of retaliation, violence, or harassment, children’s
books only reflecting heterosexual parents; and only being able to find heterosexual
wedding cards. Heterosexism can be both subtle and overt (The Welcoming Project,
Inc. (2017).

What is Heteronormativity?

Heteronormativity is the cultural bias in favor of opposite-sex/gender

relationships, to that of same-sex/gender relationships. Because opposite-sex/gender
relationships are viewed as “normal” and same-sex/ gender relationships are not,
lesbian and gay relationships are subject to a heteronormative bias. Heteronormative
bias is a bias that can be eliminated socially, culturally, and legally.

Heteronormative biases include:

- The under representation of samesex/gender couples in advertising and

entertainment media

- Religious biases to not marry samesex/gender couples

- Heterosexual persons freely discussing their intimate relationships without

second guessing to disclose their partner’s name, gender or pronoun (he/ she)

(The Rainbow Research Centre 2017).

How do you know if you are participating in heterosexism?

 Heterosexism is like any other social prejudice, such as racism or sexism. If we don’t
include and affirm lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Two-Spirit, and queer people in
all aspects of our culture and society, and believing that heterosexuality is the only
acceptable identity, then we are engaging in heterosexism (The Welcoming Project, Inc.
(2017.

Heterosexism V. Homopohobia

Heterosexism is the systemic bias, which favours heterosexuals and

heterosexuality. It has been encoded into and is a characteristic of the major social,
cultural and economic institutions of our Western society. It stems from the idea that
male and female roles, thoughts and expressions are separate and distinct. Like other
systemic oppressions heterosexism falls within the spectrum of sexism, racism,
classism, abilism and ageism to name a few.

Homophobia refers to the irrational fear, dislike, hatred, intolerance, and ignorance
of homosexuality. In other words, any aversion to those that are not heterosexual.
Although homophobia has always existed, it is only recently that we were able to give it
a name, and have come to realize that it constitutes an unacceptable attitude in a
diverse and civilized society.

To break it down, heterosexism is a systemic bias, which leads to, intersects with
and fuels homophobia (the aversion, or being against, the lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, Two pirit and queer community) (The Rainbow Research Centre 2017).

What Can I do to Stop Heterosexism?

 Become aware of your own thoughts, prejudices and understanding of the

LGBTTQ community. Take a step towards unmasking inaccurate information and

challenging stereotyped misconceptions about LGBTTQ persons. Make an effort to

help others better understand and truly challenge the misconceptions, myths, and

assumption that exits towards LGBTTQ people (The Rainbow Research Centre 2017).

 Ageism
It is discrimination or unfair treatment based on a person’s age. It can impact on
someone’s confidence, job prospects, financial situation and quality of life.

It can also include the way that older people are represented in the media, which
can have a wider impact on the public’s attitudes (Age UK.Org 2017)

Older people may experience losing their job because of…

 Losing a job because of their age.

 Being refused interest-free credit, a new credit card, car insurance or travel
insurance because of their age.

 Receiving a lower quality of service in a shop or restaurant because of the

organisa7on’s a9tude to older people.

 Not being eligible for benefits such as Personal Independence Payment due to age
limits.

 Being refused a referral from a doctor to a consultant because you are ‘too old’.

 Being refused membership to a club or trade associa7on because of your age. --

Age UK. Org (2017).
Origin AGEISM

Psychological, Sociobiological or Human Capital Explanation

FEAR of DEATH

Older people are a reminder of our impending mortality, people in the USA tend to
associate negative feelings with (and ascribe negative qualities to) older adults. The
anxiety and fear that are associated with death lead young people to blame older
people for their plight – getting older.

Cultural Explanation

Cultural explanations would point to the slow marginalisation of older people since
preindustrial times

Economic Explanation

Over the past 120 years has been accompanied by a more negative perception of
the economic value of older people (who are frequently portrayed as a fiscal ‘burden’
with regard to their pension, health and social care costs)
-Nelson(2009)

Terror Management Theory

By:Nelson,T.D.(2011)

According to TMT, culture and religion are creations that give order and meaning to
our existence, and this protects us from frightening thoughts of one’s own mortality and
the seeming random nature of life. Self-esteem is derived from believing that one has a
place and purpose in the world. Thus, according to TMT, self-esteem serves as a buffer
against anxiety associated with thoughts of one’s mortality. According to TMT, because
older people are a reminder of our impending mortality, people in the USA tend to
associate negative feelings with (and ascribe negative qualities to) older adults.

The anxiety and fear that are associated with death lead young people to blame
older people for their plight – getting older. In so doing, they can deny the thought that
they too will grow old (and die). By blaming the older person, stereotyping him/her, and
treating elders with pity, anger, irritation, or patronizing speech, younger people are able
to trick themselves into believing that they will not eventually die. T

his derogation of older people only serves to create a perpetual cycle of ever-
increasing prejudice against older persons. The more negatively younger people treat
older persons, the weaker and more negatively older people are perceived, and the
increasingly negative way older people appear, in turn only increases the anxiety young
people have about death, and this amplifies their tendency to act in ageist ways toward
older people.

Dimension AGEISM
 It refers to those:

SOCIAL RELATIONS AND ATTITUDES

actions and vocabularies whereby we accord people a diminished social status

solely or mainly by reference to their chronological age.

EMPLOYMENT

1930s, there has been a debate about the use of age-proxies in hiring, firing,
promotion, demotion, remuneration, training, and mandatory retirement (which many
anti-ageism campaigners see as the most objectionable example of age
discrimination)… age proxies are held to be unfair since heterogeneity in health status,
cognitive ability and working capacity increases as cohorts age.

DISTRIBUTION OF GOOD AND SERVICES

A long time anti-ageism campaigners have argued that older people are unfairly
discriminated against in such areas as motor or holiday insurance, or in health care
(where there are longstanding and well-justified allegations of much informal
discrimination against older patients Macnilon, J. (2010).
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