An approach to work that focuses on ending oppressions. Focusing our work in this way takes for granted that we live in a society where social groups use power or privilege for their own benefit while disempowering, marginalizing, silencing and subordinating other groups. It recognizes that oppressions operate at many levels, from internalized to systemic, and it considers how historical traumas affect the relationships between social groups today. Working from an anti-oppressive frameworks is about centering justice and transforming ourselves, our relationships and our institutions.
The act to accommodate people that are presently excluded from our institutions. This is an approach this has been popular in higher education and corporate workplaces in recent years, and is a term that’s often coupled with diversity. Inclusion is about being a part of systems that are already oppressive.
Acceptance or promotion of multiple identities within a single institution. Diversity has been criticized for putting too much onus on numbers of people, versus considering the actual people the numbers represent. Often read as a codeword for talking about race.
A theory that examines how various categories of identity such as gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, religion, caste, age, nationality and others interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels. We should think of each element or trait of a person as inextricably linked with all of the other elements in order to fully understand one's identity. The term was first coined by critical race theorist Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in the late 1980s. Read some of Crenshaw's talk at TEDWomen 2016 here.
Often seen as a codeword for talking about people of color.
The classification of sex and gender into two distinct, opposite and disconnected forms of masculine and feminine. Assumes one's sex, gender and sexual orientation are by default aligned. For example, someone assigned male at birth would be assumed masculine in appearance, behavior and character traits, including a heterosexual attraction to those assigned female at birth.
The idea that sites--real and virtual--should be easily accessible to all, regardless of any physical, visual, or cognitive impairment. Accessibility is often seen as an item to check off towards the end of the design process, especially in building digital sites and applications, instead of being an integral part of the process from the start.