Full Description
Both theoretical and narrative, the book draws on the author's long experience as a mediator and counselor to examine the ways in which members of society are dehumanized by institutional oppression and contribute to that system.
At the place where personal identity and institutional oppression meet there lie reasons beyond morality for all people, especially those with apparent privilege, to resist inequities based in race, gender, class or generation. Reclaiming Humanity explores the psychological and political ways modern individuals become dehumanized, even as we are recruited into systems that dehumanize others. Through stories of personal exploration and learning, the book delves into dynamics by which we consent to systems that deprive us of well-being. Reclaiming Humanity then moves beyond understanding how profoundly we've lost the art of community connection to open up creative visions of a truly humane social order. Through these narratives and explorations, the work discusses practical directions for mediators, activists, and other seekers after justice.
Contents
1. Introduction: Divisions at the Junction of Self and Society
Part One: Becoming Human in a Dehumanizing Culture
2. Identity: Who Am I? Who Are You? Where Do I Fit
3. Masculinity, Violence and Racism: How Men Internalize Patriarchy
4. Generational Roles and Immigration: How Women Internalize Patriarchy
5. Worldviews: Individualism and Injustice
6. Psychiatrizing Discontent: Soft Landings on Hard Couches
7. Ways of Thinking: In Twos, Tens, or Rainbows
8. Politicizing Empathy: Alienation and Suffering
Part Two: Institutions and Dehumanization
9. Religion: And Its Mystifications
10. Divide and Rule: Education, Still Segregated After All These Years
11. Multicultural Workplaces: Conflicts Both Interpersonal and Systemic
12. Diversity and Other Misnomers: What's the Matter with DEI?
13. The Classless Society: Healthcare: What the Body Knows
Part Three: Building Connection to Reclaim Humanity
14. How Change Happens: When We're Not Even Looking
15. Reclaiming Vision, Exercising Agency: Creating a Beloved Multicultural Community
Appendix 1: Review of Concepts
Appendix 2: The Making of a Radical
Bibliography
End Notes
Index
About the Author
