White Dominance and the Weight of the West

1. White Dominance and the Weight of the West Chapter 2

2. Minimal Group Paradigm • Suggests that human beings tend to demonstrate discriminatory in-group and out-group dynamics even when there is a limited basis for drawing distinctions between members of groups.

3. Two Basic Lessons of Minimal Group Theory • Even when distinctions are meaningless people still draw them between themselves and groups. • They then ascribe values of superiority and inferiority to the various groups they created.

4. Social Personality • Subjective Dimensions • How you see yourself and how you see others • Objective Dimensions • Relates to social position in terms of quantitative and observable measures • Example: Education Level or Job Title

5. Social Dominance Theory • Human social systems are predisposed to form social hierarchies, with hegemonic groups at the top and negative reference groups at the bottom. • Hegemonic groups tend to be disproportionately male, a phenomenon that social dominance theorist call the “iron law of andrancy.”

6. Social Dominance Theory • Most forms of social oppression, such as racism, sexism, and classism, can be viewed as manifestations of group-based social hierarchy. • Social hierarchy is a survival strategy that has been selected by many species of primates, including Homo sapiens.

7. Privilege and Penalty • Certain groups receive privileges whether or not they are earned, while other groups receive penalties by no fault of their own.

8. The Lens of Indigenous Experience • The Methodologies of Dominance • Disease • Warfare • Land Theft • Religion • Missionaries and Bureaucrats • Education • Alienation and Alcohol

9. The Possibility of Change • “The beasts of dominance comes in many colors and guises and whites alone do not hold a monopoly on the imposition of human suffering.” (pg. 50)