Oppression - Early registration for Wikimania 2008 is now...


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Early registration for Wikimania 2008 is now open. [ hide ] Oppression From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Oppression is the act of using power to empower and/or privilege a group at the expense of disempowering, marginalizing, silencing, and subordinating another. Note: Oppression does not need established organizational support; it can be rendered on a much smaller individual scale. It is particularly closely associated with nationalism and derived social systems, wherein identity is built by antagonism to the other. The term itself derives from the idea of being "weighted down." [ edit ] Systematic oppression The most famous type of oppression in society is the legal system. Anarchists argue that police and law itself is oppression. Although legal systems control behavior , they are not considered oppression because they are for the common good (see utilitarianism ). The term oppression is primarily used to describe how a certain group is being subordinated by unjust use of force , authority , or societal norms . When this is institutionalized formally or informally in a society, it is referred to as "systematic oppression". Oppression is most commonly felt and expressed by a widespread, if unconscious, assumption that a certain group of people are inferior. Oppression is rarely limited solely to government action. Individuals can be victims of oppression, and in this case have no group membership to share their burden of being ostracized. In psychology , racism, sexism and other prejudices are often studied as individual beliefs which, although not necessarily oppressive in themselves, can lead to oppression if they are acted on, or codified into law or other systems. By comparison, in sociology , these prejudices are often studied as being institutionalized systems of oppression in some societies. In sociology, the tools of oppression include a progression of denigration, dehumanization , and demonization ; which often generate scapegoating , which is used to justify aggression against targeted groups and individuals.
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Oppression - Early registration for Wikimania 2008 is now...


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