Re: Reflexivity and class

Judy (diamonju who-is-at rci.rutgers.edu)
Wed, 13 Dec 1995 11:33:06 -0500

In Jay's last message (greatly appreciated for the clarification it
provided) he wrote that it "may be a little hard to shake class prejudices
about" [the cognitive deficiencies? of lower classes]. My earlier reference
to the "correspondence between social class and leeway" may have suggested
some such prejudice, so I would like to clarify where I am coming from.

I spent much of my adult life, before getting my doctorate, preoccupied with
survival needs. I am too well aware that, whether in big cities or northwest
Alaska, economic oppression (or, in the case of rural Alaska, a "deficiency"
of middle class comforts) certainly does not limit the resourcefulness or
the complexity of resource networks that a community and its members have
available. Since my roots are middle class, I know what it's like, in a
different environment, to appear as (and feel) deficient in what it takes to
get along. I am white, but I know what it's like to feel like a stranger to
white, middle class culture (and not only because of gender).

That said, one last point -- Jay, can you say more about what it would mean
to use a non-experience based model as a guide for action? I may be
resisting the obvious, but I can't imagine using a tool that has not been
shaped by my experience.

-- Judy