- distribution of resources is equitable
- all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure
- individuals are both self-determining (able to develop their full capacities) and interdependent (capable of interacting democratically with others)
- individuals have a sense of their own agency [identity, worth, value] as well as a sense of social responsibility
...Developing a social justice process in a society steeped in oppression is no small feat. For this reason we need clear ways to define and analyze oppression so that we can understand how it operates at various individual, cultural, and institutional levels.
...We use the term oppression rather than discrimination, bias, prejudice, or bigotry to emphasize the pervasive nature of social inequality woven throughout social institutions as well as embedded within individual consciousness.
...We look the existence of a dominant or agent group and (a) subordinate or target group(s) in each form of power and privilege that are dynamic features of oppression, whatever its particular form, e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism, class ism).
Adapted from "Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice," edited by Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin
