"Laundering class privilege"

[firecat]

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/06/21/the-new-elite-attributing-privilege-to-class-vs-merit/ (emphasis in the original)

sociologist Shamus Khan...argues that new social mandates to diversify elite education may have some pernicious negative effects. A generation ago, when most students who attended the high school came from rich backgrounds, St. Paul’s students knew that they were there because they were members of the privileged class. Today about 1/3rd of students do not pay full tuition. Students, then — both those on scholarships and those who aren’t — learn to think of themselves as individuals who have worked hard to get where they are.

The problem, as Khan articulates it, is that identifying as a member of a class acknowledges that privileged individuals are lucky and may owe some gratitude to a society that has boosted them up. Thinking of oneself as a uniquely talented individual, in contrast, encourages a person to attribute all of their privilege to their own merits, so they not only feel no gratitude to society, but also fail to notice that our social institutions play a part in disadvantaging the disadvantaged.

The first comment is really insightful (emphasis mine):

EXACTLY! This process is alive and well in many institutions of higher learning. In law school, the same process is at play. Class privilege brought many of the young lawyers to law school, but the 3 years of hard work (which is fetishized) transforms that class privilege into something 'earned' - something that the individuals have to hide.

It is a way of laundering class privilege. And just like money laundering - turning the ill-gotten proceeds of crime into legitimate business ventures - the appearance is fundamentally altered. Instead of rich brats who had everything handed to them; they become bright, hard-working, intellectual go-getters who earned everything they have. Brilliant.

I'm not sure I like the implication that scholarships are responsible for the loss of understanding of class privilege. (Because then it's too easy to say "Let's do away with scholarships.") But the "laundering class privilege" metaphor strikes me as very powerful.

Comments

[firecat]

it doesn't explain why those very same privileged people have been behaving in exactly the same way all along.

It sounds like you disagree with this part of the quote: "A generation ago, when most students who attended the high school came from rich backgrounds, St. Paul’s students knew that they were there because they were members of the privileged class."

I'm also not sure it's true. I was in a private high school more than a generation ago, and I don't remember a big deal being made about our being members of the privileged class. There was a lot of pretending that class didn't exist.

[lilacsigil]

Well, I disagree with that part - there's always been scholarship kids and kids from middle-class backgrounds, if not from working-class backgrounds - but I also disagree with the writer's implication that if you *know* you're a member of the privileged class, you are more socially aware about the rest of society. Wealth buys insularity, and the story of the self-made man (who just happened to have an awful lot of societal support) is hardly new.

But I do like the comment about laundering privilege - largely the same people have the privilege but are using the stories of the few others they let in to make them feel like they earned it.

[firecat]

largely the same people have the privilege but are using the stories of the few others they let in to make them feel like they earned it.

Right, and I would also say "to make them feel like they don't owe anything but the occasional scholarship to society at large." I think some people believe that if scholarships are made available, the playing field is entirely even and the whole of society is a meritocracy.

laundering privilege

[bibliofile]

Yes! The phrase works on so many levels: using the stories of the few, tokenism, insularity, etc.