Understanding Multipartiality in Intergroup Dialogue Part 4: Cultural Exploitation

This post is the fourth of a seven-part series on understanding multipartiality in Intergroup Dialogue, as explained by Roger Fisher. One of the biggest points of tension and critique I have heard from participants with marginalized identities in social justice education spaces involves the ways some spaces are designed to prioritize the learning, comfort, and safety of people with privileged identities in ways that leave people with marginalized identities feeling used and exploited.

At times, I’ve heard questions like, “Who is this education really for?” “I’m sharing and reliving some of the hardest moments of marginalization I’ve experienced, and for what? So privileged people can learn at my expense? What are they contributing? What am I getting out of this?”

In this video, Roger discusses the harmful practice of cultural exploitation, sharing two ways it can surface in dialogue among participants: experience parasites at the individual level and cultural strip mining at the group level.

Ubuntu,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins-Jones

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