Oppressors–oppressed distinction
Oppressors-oppressed distinction or dominant-dominated opposition, is an influential political argument. One of its first uses was by Hegel in his 1802 The German Constitution, in which he said that "The Catholics had been in the position of oppressors, and the Protestants of the oppressed." Its use by Karl Marx made it very influential, and it is often considered a fundamental element of Marxist analysis. The applications of it to some contexts, have led some to consider their simplicity suspicious or dubious. Many authors have reprised it and readapted it to other contexts, including Engels, Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Antonio Gramsci, Simone Weil, Paulo Freire and others. It has been used in a variety of contexts, including bourgeoisie versus proletariat, imperialism versus self-determination, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and others.
Imperialism and self-determination
The theory of oppressor and oppressed nations has been part of Lenin's thought on imperialism, self-determination and criticisms of Social Democrats.
Criticism
The most important criticism to the oppressors-oppressed distinction was made by the political philosopher Kenneth Minogue in his classic work The Pure Theory of Ideology, and this concept (described as the nature of a true ideology) was the focus of his next insights. In the book's introduction, Minogue resumes the problem of the dialectical concept of oppression:
See also
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed
- Ideology of the 1979 Iranian Revolution
- Kenneth Minogue
References
- Derrida (1994) Specters of Marx
- Gordon, Ḥayim and Gordon, Rivca (1991) Israel/Palestine: the quest for dialogue
- Halabi, R., Sonnenschein, N., & Friedman, A. (2004) Liberate the oppressed and their oppressors: Encounters between university students. In R. Halabi (Ed.) Israeli and Palestinian identities in dialogue: The School for Peace approach. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
- Hegel (1802) The German Constitution, chapter II, section 1 The Armed Forces. Original title Die Verfassung Deutschlands, included Werke volume 1 Early Writings (Frühe Schriften). English translation collected in Political writings
- Lenin, V.I. (1927), "The Revolutionary Proletariat and the Right of Nations to Self-Determination", Lenin Miscellany VI
- Minogue, Kenneth (1985), Alien Powers: The Pure Theory of Ideology
- Kauppi, Niilo (1996) French intellectual nobility