Class Privilege and Class Narratives

Questions:

1. What does it mean to have privilege?
2. What are the experiences of different social classes?

Feedback Responses
Key takeaways for me:

1. ​Vast majority see the relevance and are interested (at least to some extent) in what we’re studying
2. People struggle to express themselves for a few reasons:
   1. Fear of judgment
   2. Fear of offending others
   3. Their views run counter to the dominant views in class (conservative views especially noted here)
3. ​Desire for data and facts, rather than just experiences:  VALID!  Know that this is coming- we’re going to spend the next week focusing on the lived experiences of people in different classes, as we prepare to write our own class narratives.  My reasoning for this is that it is harder to stereotype and oversimplify when you have complex stories of real people as touchstones.  NEXT week, we will start digging into the facts and statistics of income inequality in the United States, and the week after that we will be looking at social mobility, using both stats and data, and the experiences of people who have moved classes (up and down).
4. Concern about liberal bias.  I’m trying really hard to be even-handed and allow room for all voices here.  I can’t control other faculty members or other students.  I’m also trying to be honest with you guys.  Please let me know if you feel like I’m not being open to other views.  What I am asking all of us to do right now, is to recognize the complexity of this issue, and not make blanket statements about any one class- let your views become more complicated.  As we move forward, I’ll be asking you to look carefully at data, and to think about how that data supports or does not support your views on class and social mobility.  There are no easy answers here- only better questions.

Starter 13-

1. How do you feel about the concept of privilege (the idea that people have unearned advantages because of a part of their social identities)?
2. List all the different parts of your social identity you can think of.  For example, my list would be:
   1. ​Female
   2. White
   3. Straight
   4. Cisgender
   5. Middle clas
   6. Highly educated
   7. Atheist
   8. Married
   9. Mother
   10. Teacher
3. What parts of your identities are typically associated with privilege?
4. What parts of your identities are disadvantaged in our society?

Vocab Lecture: Privilege

1. What it is: Unearned advantage because of prejudice or social structures, because our society values some social identities over others.
2. What it isn’t: Something you should feel guilty about, something that is meant to discount your hard work and efforts, accomplishments
3. Big realization: Being aware of your privilege simply means being aware that some people have to work much harder just to experience the things you take for granted (if they ever can experience them at all).  It does NOT mean that people with fewer or more privileges are better or worse people, that you cannot overcome a lack of privilege, or that people with more social privileges have easy lives.

Privilege Quiz
Students take the quiz, enter their scores in a the Class Privilege Scores Table
Complete written reflection on the back of the quiz.

Debrief Discussion in Small Groups

1. What is your “gut reaction” to where you find yourself at the end of this list of privileges?  Are you surprised at where you are?
2. What do see in our data?  
3. What were your thoughts and feelings as you did this exercise?
   1. How do you feel about where you are relative to other people in the room?
   2. What went through your mind as you answered these questions?
   3. Which of the statements did you find surprising or unexpected? Why?
   4. Which of the statements made you feel uncomfortable or hurt? Why?
   5. Which of the statements you felt unsure whether it applies to you or not? Why?
4. How has your social position (i.e., your privileged or marginalized position in society based on your social group membership) affected you, your family, and your community, in terms of opportunity and access?
5. What does your position in the room say about societal messages about your worth and the worth of people with similar privilege levels?
6. Which of the privileges did you inherit from your family? For inherited privileges, how far does the privilege go back in your family tree?
7. How does this exercise make you think differently about your own identity, daily experience, or relationships with other people?

Class Narratives
​Doing this to get a picture into the lives of different classes, AND to model for you what I am looking for in your class narratives.  Will be looking at these in different ways tomorrow and Wednesday, and then starting to write your own on Thursday and Friday.

Divide students into class groups

1. Find a partner in your class group (AM will have groups of 3 in each class)
2. Choose a class narrative from that class to read (see the ones linked on the documents page of my DP- if you would like me to print you a copy, let me know)
3. Read that class narrative, and take notes on the following:
   1. What are your big takeaways (2-3) from reading this?  
   2. How did this person react and relate to other classes they came into contact with?
   3. Where does their social identity create privilege?  Where does it create disadvantages?
   4. What connections can you make to any of the following:
      1. A Touchy Subject
      2. Privilege
      3. Conflict theory (including Marx and Weber)
      4. Functionalism  
4. Now, with your partner, choose a narrative from ANOTHER class to read.  Read the second narrative and answer the following:
   1. What were the biggest differences between the first narrative and this one?  Similarities?
   2. How did this person react and relate to other classes?
   3. Where does their social identity create privilege?  Where does it create disadvantage?

HOMEWORK:
Read TWO class narratives and take notes on the questions above.   DUE: SOC, Tuesday.