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"politicized" - it is political already. The question is whose power is ex–
pressed and sustained by a particular institution and whether the current
power relationships are to be challenged.
Step
9:
ErnpoUlerlllel1t.
The hegemony of one group over another is
incompatible with the ideas of equality, liberation, and the full realiza–
tion of human potential. Hence, Western white male elites should relin–
quish power over others, and oppressed groups should take power over
their own lives.
Step 10: hiCllISioll.
Works reflecting the interests of the dominant
class must be unmasked, and their hegemonic biases - patriarchy, racism,
and imperialism - revealed. Ideas of what is "central" and "normal" have
served the interest of the dominant class, while the traits of oppressed
groups have been regarded as "marginal" and "abnormal." These hierar–
chies and perhaps all hierarchies - perhaps all dualisms - must be chal–
lenged. At the same time, work by and for the oppressed must be re–
trieved and fully appreciated. If these works do not meet traditional aca–
demic standards, then the standards should be changed.
Step
11:
The TyranllY oj Objectivity.
Ideals of truth, objectivity, rea–
son, argument, evidence, impartiality, et cetera - elements of a "regime
of truth" - are themselves among the instruments of oppression. The
"assumed detachment of scientific observers from what they observe," for
instance, is "made possible through organized hierarchies of science
where, for example, woman work as bottle washers, research assistants,
or computer operators." The vaunted superiority of objectivity over
subjectivity, of reason over emotion, of mind over body, of universal
over particular, reflects hierarchical or "vertical" traits associated with
Western white males and devalues "horizontal" traits associated with
women, minorities, non-Western peoples, and the poor.
Step
12:
(Re)visioll.
The "spurious appeal to objectivity, science,
truth, universality" must be replaced by "a politics of truth that defines
the true as that which liberates and furthers specific processes of libera–
tion." Ideas and interpretations that support hegemonic structures must
be replaced by ideas and interpretations that support the interests and in–
crease the power of women, minorities, and the poor. The test of an
idea is not whether it meets traditional canons of evidence and argu–
ment, but whether it furthers the political interests of the oppressed,
whether it is helpful in "generating the history we want."
Step
13:
Political Stal1dards.
The regime of truth and the tyranny of
objectivity must be replaced by norms more sensitive to the perspectives
and interests of oppressed groups, that is, by what its critics call "political
correctness." What is said, taught, or published - and who is hired -
should be judged not by hegemonic standards of merit and objectivity,
