Inclusion Infusions: Othering

Posted on Friday, March 12th, 2021

Sociologists have long been attempting to explain the phenomenon and process of prejudice; why is it certain groups of people may be marginalized and oppressed by others? How does oppression, prejudice, and hate develop between and amongst people, and how can it be interrupted?

A key insight in this field is around the concept of OTHERING. Othering involves focusing in on a difference and using that difference to dismantle a sense of connectedness between people (CHRM 2021). The concept of “The Other” highlights how most societies (and the people within them) create a sense of belonging, identity and social status by constructing somewhat artificial social categories as binary opposites. For example Black–White, gay–straight, male–female, oppressed–oppressor, mentally ill–normal, and able-bodied–disabled.

The Canadian Human Rights Museum has articulated the two step process of othering:

  1. Categorizing a group of people according to perceived differences, such as ethnicity, skin colour, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
  2. Identifying that group as inferior and using an “us vs. them” mentality to alienate the group.

A 1968 classroom experiment which demonstrates how quickly and easily humans are willing to ‘other’ people can be found in the work of Jane Elliott. Through the eyes of children we can see how important it is to become part of the ‘in group’ and not an ‘other’ even when the difference is absolutely meaningless. Although the full video A Class Divided is well worth the time to watch, perhaps take just 12 minutes to view this excerpt (trigger warning due to language). Watch for the two step process to be repeated in the video, and the impact it has.

Jane Elliott in front of her class in 1968

Of course this same process can happen in the workplace, as in any place where humans collect in groups or societies. Othering is at work when people use images and words that distort, insult, exclude, or dismiss another group of people. It can take the form of jokes or insults that can be hurtful and isolating, setting some people apart as inferior or different. Othering can also be seen when people reject ideas they disagree with by resorting to stereotypes that insult or attack the people who express them. If these othering opinions spread unchallenged, they are more likely to be accepted as normal or true.

A problem named is not yet a problem solved, but certainly we are closer…


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