Talk:Classism
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[edit] revisions and deletions
I do not understand the revisions and deletions that were made in this article.
Firstly, because they are poorly phrased. The opening sentence is now an ungrammatical jumble and several items are unclear. Secondly, because it deletes substantial amounts of important information--such as the distinction between individual and structural classism, which is necessary material to incorporate in any contemporary discussion of issues of prejudice or oppression. Thirdly because it inserts quite a bit of a material that applies to no use of the word "classism" with which I have ever been familiar. "Classism" is almost universally used by anarchists and communists as a term of criticism, parallel to "racism" or "sexism." As far as I can tell the only use of the notion of anarchism as "open classism" comes from the Openly Classist project in the UK. Fine; if you want to link to them as an alternate perspective on the meaning of the word you can feel free to link to them as an alternative usage but to imply that their peculiar usage of the term is broadly accepted within the anarchist community or by the Left is simply false.
I have, therefore, reverted the edits to the previous version. I'd try to work up some material mentioning the Openly Classist folks but it's late at night and frankly I'm not sure there's much of a point to it in a general discussion of the notion of classism. In the future if you want to re-incorporate some of this material please do so in a way that (1) does not destroy useful material previously composed and (2) does not make inaccurate blanket assertions about how the word "classism" is used. Radgeek 05:04, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)
- I would argue that it's not only a 'top down' phenomenon. Plenty of people of lower economic classes hold prejudices (sometimes well-founded, sometimes not) against people of higher socioeconomic classes. This doen't seem to be a really active page, so I might just check back in a couple of days and change it if no one objects.
[edit] classism and racism
i looked over the article and it's presented as if classism and racism are distinct entities.
this isn't always true.
sometimes there isn't a clear dividing line between the "two" concepts.
the more i research and the more i learn, the more i come to this conclusion.
yes, racism can be defined in completely different ways in different contexts, and it isn't always something economic.
sometimes it IS.
due to technical difficulties, my signature may appear as my ISP number rather than as my user name.
Gringo300 20:56, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Reverse classism delete
- I agree that part on reverse classism was sloppy and I almost deleted it myself, but I think it should be noted somewhere in this article that classism needn't always be a 'top-down' phenomenon. A black man can have racist attitudes (justified or not) toward white people he's never met- even if that black man truly is systematically discriminated against by white people in general. I think the same is true with classism. There are many people of lower social classes who pre-judge someone they have never met based on their real or perceived wealth/upper class membership/clothing/whatever. And aren't classism and racism (at least on the personal, non-institutionalized level) simply prejudices? i.e. pre-judging someone? Let me know what you think because I'm thinking of adding a line or two or possibly a paragraph.--Hraefen 01:10, 16 November 2005 (UTC)
I definitely agree - classism can act both ways; just look at the recent Big Brother controversy. I think class conflict has played a significant role in it, with the three bullies reacting to the fact that Shilpa comes from a very well off background and even has servants. And yes, embarassingly enough, that does mean I've been watching Celebrity Big Brother :/ Saluton 00:49, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
- I've just had a go changing the initial paragraph to include this. Saluton 00:52, 21 January 2007 (UTC)