White Privilege (Compare and Contrast) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

White Privilege (Compare and Contrast) - Essay Example The concept of white privilege has remained a contentious subject of academic discourse within critical race theory and the focus of this paper is to compare and contrast the different perspectives pertaining to the concept of white privilege with specific reference to Tim Wise’s â€Å"This is Your Nation on White Privilege†, Blanche Curry’s â€Å"Whiteness and Feminism†; Joy James’ â€Å"maintaining and Kicking White Supremacy†; Peggy McIntosh’s â€Å"White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack†, and Tiffany Joseph’s â€Å"Why don’t you get somebody new to do it† Race and cultural taxation in the academy. It is submitted at the outset that the underlying common thread between these academic commentaries is the acknowledgement of the theoretical concept of white privilege as a symbol of inequality between the opportunities and advantages accorded to white people in contrast to non-whites within the Ame rican social construct. For example, whilst using different narrative perspectives, both Wise and McIntosh highlight what they appear to believe is the undisputed reality of white privilege in America. McIntosh uses subjective experience to refer to the distinct advantages she has in the workplace in comparison to her African American counterparts: â€Å"39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race... 43. I can have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem† (McIntosh 4). Similarly, Wise refers to the distinction in racial perceptions being directly attributable to the concept of â€Å"white privilege† by using a listing technique for emphasis similar to McIntosh. For example, Wise comments that â€Å"white privilege is when you can call yourself a â€Å"fuckin’ redneck... talk about how you like to â€Å"shoot shit† for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible all American boy....rather than a thug† (Wise). However, whilst these commentaries seek to highlight the concept of white privilege and its impact on the perception and stereotypes within the American social paradigm; some of the commentaries seek to go beyond pre-existing assumptions regarding white privilege within critical race theory by evaluating the white privilege paradigm through a contextual approach. This is particularly evident with Curry and Joseph’s contextual analysis of the overriding influence of white perspectives in seminal aspects of academic discourse. For example, on the one hand Wise’s somewhat sarcastic take on the concept of white privilege highlights the fact that racial inequality permeates social assumptions and preconceptions in American society in particular (Wise). On the other hand, Curry’s discussion of white privilege undertakes a contextual approach with specific reference to developments in feminism and feminist theory to highlight how the dominanc e of the white perspective in feminist theory ignores important female perspectives which are imperative to a comprehensive and representative model of feminist theory (Curry 243). Moreover, Curry argues that the concept of feminism is intrinsically linked to the subjective experience and as such, the cultural experience is important in the continuous development of feminist theory. Curry suggests that the dominance of white privilege within America’s social history means that the pre-existing discourse on feminism and feminist theory has developed with a white bias that ignores other cultures (Curry 244). For example, Curry highlights the point that whilst there is a â€Å"known and populist version of feminism†, she suggests that the dominance of accepted feminism theory being white has led to â€Å"deja-vu† marginalisation, which in turn undermines the weight accorded to

The Division of Labor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Division of Labor - Essay Example The role of people at a different level are labor specific and conform to the specified exchange of service that is needed to perform at that level therefore what is being exchanged becomes more important to who is exchanging. The social division of labor is characterized by complexities in the social hierarchy and traditions in any cultural production that is focused towards development and often results in conflicts. These conflicts basically comprise of developmental issues and ideological contradictions which arise due to disparate social exchanges, promoting social stratification on the basis of class, race, and culture. Within a wider spectrum of social issues which focus on division of labor, conflicts arise because of varying interests of the state and individual during cultural production in a developmental process. Cultural production signifies construction of collective identities on the basis of cultural diversification and therefore, the platform that promotes this production stresses the importance of the technical division of labor that emphasizes the specialized type of labor inputs, required for the different level of production. The technical division of labor, therefore, has become more job specific and highly skilled. The rapid globalization and technological advancement of the recent time have greatly revolutionized the labor processes. With the advent of technology, the collective production has become more complex. There is a significant paradigm shift in the technical division of labor from direct to indirect model that is focused on regulation, administration, improvement, and innovation to meet the challenges of the changing time.