A political science professor, Ange-Marie Hancock, expounds on theories of intersectionality and ‘Oppression Olympics’ to explore 21st Century racial, gender and class politics. The book, Solidarity Politics for Millennia’s the Politics of Intersectionality a Guide to Ending the Oppression Olympics (2011, Palgrave Macmillan ISBN: 978-0-230-10800-4), starts by examining the mainstream sexism of the 2008 presidential election. She uses The Real World television show, Dora the Explorer and other cultural events of the past decade to exam ‘Oppression Olympics’ and ways to achieve social justice.
Oppression Olympics
Hancock describes ‘Oppression Olympics’ as “a threat to our democracy.” It is a term used to describe intergroup competition and victimhood. She writes, “Throughout the book I’ll argue that the introduction of intersectionality into our public discourse will give us better tools to handle today’s more nuanced challenges of gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and age in the United States, ultimately helping us to overcome the Oppression Olympics.”
There are five sides of Oppression Olympics detailed by the author:
- Leapfrog Paranoia
- Willful Blindness
- Movement Backlash
- Defiant Ignorance
- Compassion Deficit Disorder
Intersectionality
The author mentions the generation gap between the two largest generations: the Millennia’s and the baby boomers. Because of the importance of bridging this gap, Hancock provides a section at the end of each chapter on how to talk to someone a lot older or someone a lot younger.
One of the case studies Hancock presents throughout the book is the dismissive manner displayed by then Senator Barack Obama towards Hilary Clinton; his opponent in the Democratic Party’s nomination for the run for the President of the United States. Some female activists viewed his behavior as sexist, while other women Millennia’s viewed it as something other than sexism.
Hancock writes, “The “intersectional turn” builds on cross-disciplinary work by feminist scholars and activists of color around the world. The impact of intersectional approach to race, sexual orientation, gender and class as analytical categories has emerged from over fifty years of scholarship.”
Millennia’s are More Tolerant
The book demonstrates how the past fifty years and the Millennia’s generation has grown more tolerant of groups with whom they disagree. Hancock offers that today, “Solidarity is more directly attuned to questions of justice than tolerance is.”
In the conclusion chapter, Hancock tells the readers that she did not spend much time profiling activists or organizations that created societal transformations. Instead she wanted to tell the reader of the commonalities of the projects that the activists have undertaken.
Hancock restates her mission for the book on the last page, saying it “seeks to facilitate a commons set of questions so that Boomers, X’ers, and Millennia’s alike can engage in the endeavor of social justice with humility and hope.”
The book does demonstrate a clear difference in thinking between the generations toward race, class, and gender. It is written using some technical language but with the help of the case studies and examples using current events, it becomes easier to read.
