White-supremacist capitalist patriarchy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

White-supremacist capitalist patriarchy is a term coined by bell hooks in order to talk about the structures of domination at work the United States. The premise that informs this term is that different forms of oppression, the most prominent, according to hooks, being racism, sexism, and classist oppression, are all manifestations of a larger root cause. That root cause is the conception of power in our society, the idea that might equals right, that the ability to dominate another through violence is somehow an imperative to do so.

The term white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy itself is a critique of this common conception of power, as well as a linguistic reminder that capitalism, racism, and patriarchy are interconnected forms of oppression and as such, must be reckoned with as whole rather than individually. Also important to note is that hooks refutes the idea of men as the "enemy" as untrue, ineffective, and a simplification of the complex societal issues at hand.