Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment A Developmental Strategy to Liberate Everyone

by Leticia Nieto, Margot F. Boyer, Liz Goodwin

Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment, by Leticia Nieto Psy.D. and co-authors, brings a long-awaited breakthrough to the fields of liberation and cultural studies. Nieto offers a powerful analysis of the psychological dynamics of oppression and privilege, and shows readers how to develop the skills that can promote social justice for themselves and those around them.

A key metaphor in Beyond Inclusion, Beyond Empowerment is the rank system. It can be used to analyze hidden and unconscious influences of oppression on people's behavior. Resisting oppression requires that everyone - both those who benefit and those who are restricted by these social arrangements - become more aware in everyday interactions. This consciousness develops through a series of specific skills that can be identified and encouraged in oneself and in others.

A unique feature of Nieto's approach is the practical nature of the skills model, which allows anyone to identify what skills they are using and expand their range. This framework is of special interest to educators, therapists, organizational leaders, activists, and anyone who wants to live in a more equitable society. The book provides exercises and tools to help people learn to see and name specific skills in films, fiction, and their own lives. It also uncovers the ways that the rank system shapes our inner lives, influencing our relationships, feelings, and perceptions. This flexible model admits the ambiguities and challenges of real life.

More down to earth than academic theory, the book includes personal stories from people of diverse backgrounds, as well as exercises, visualizations, and poetry. The book reflects insights from its roots in developmental psychology, theater, and liberatory pedagogy. The book developed through collaboration over the past decade among Garth Johnson, Liz Goodwin, Margot Boyer, and Laurel Collier Smith.

Genres: Nonfiction, Social Justice, Psychology, Leadership, Education, Cultural Studies, Society

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Dh Shulits · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book. Like a really important book. An excellent and important work which carefully, compassionately, and poetically illuminates the treacherous cultural landscape of privilege and oppression. A landscape we must reshape- and this book can help us consider how.

[clove · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main value in this book for me was in the exploration of Agent and Target "skill sets" and how to develop from one to another, and I'm a bit disappointed there wasn't more of that. I was looking for more concrete models of how to develop or work with others to develop more skillful behaviors around oppression, however, the book was much more dedicated to explaining terminology and foundational concepts around how oppression works. Neito writes with a lot of clarity and provides examples in media/pop culture and I think this would be very helpful to someone unfamiliar with current terminologies. For someone already doing this work looking to further it, I'd recommend the sections regarding "Agent/Target Skills Development" and "Expanding Skill Sets," as a lot of the terminology she uses will probably be naturally understood if you've already worked with these concepts.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great and deep book about building healthy communities

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suspect (and hope!) that the lifelong impact Dr. Nieto's work will have on me will be staggering - working through what she conveys has honestly felt a bit seismic. Dr. Nieto brings art of all forms (poetry, song, folklore, even vivid descriptions of movies) to the work of liberation, with a developmental, holarchical framework that is quite different from many more intellectualized (not more intellectual, just more intellectualized) approaches to anti-oppression (which she argues is a part of, but more narrow than, liberation), yet also deepened my understanding of and ability to work on myself within and through those other frameworks. It feels like a disservice to try to give examples of the model in action in an abbreviated medium, but I'll try: one thing that has stuck with me is Dr. Nieto's deft analysis of the intersection of systemic and interpersonal power, and how looking for both at once can enable us to better articulate why some anti-liberation arguments (like people who ask "What about reverse racism?") happen and how to respond to them. Another is building tolerance for long-term anti-oppression work. She gently and incisively points out how unwillingness to acknowledge that most of us will revert to less skilled behavior when stressed or threatened perpetuates this behavior and inhibits growth, and how to be patient with this recursive process of growth. I don't know! Even reading what I just wrote, I'm like, "Just get the book!" or read Dr. Nieto in her own words! The only thing I should note is that I've taken a continuing education seminar with Dr. Nieto, and experienced her consultation work in a professional organization I belong through, and her approach, which includes tremendous expertise in psychodrama and experiential work, really springs to life live as opposed to in writing. I think I benefitted from "hearing" her as I read. The book is plenty powerful on its own, but if you ever have the chance to hear her speak, don't miss it.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I am by no means an expert, I have done a lot of work in justice-education spaces, which use a lot of the same kinds of language and tools. This was an interesting and refreshing take on these topics with a vocabulary I hadn't used before and a different framing on liberation. For example, Nieto distinguishes between "status," which is situational (boss-employee, teacher-student, service staff-customer); "rank," which is socially ascribed group membership; and "power," which is framed as internal and something to be tapped into. The main substance of the book revolves around a set of skills that "target rank" and "agent rank" people can develop, and Nieto emphasizes that most of us hold some target and some agent ranks and so we need to develop skills of both types and for each of our rank positions (i.e. we may need to develop target skills in gender separately from target skills in ethnicity in addition to agent skills in national origin, etc.). This is definitely a book I think would be interesting to come back to to develop a workshop.

[MZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked it a lot. Informative and give a lot insights into the topics. Will recommend to humanity-related classes.

[Barbara Helynn Heard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because it was written in a way that showed many sides of the same story.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book five years ago for a college course and still think of it often. It largely frames how I think about inclusion and equality, and certainly formed the vocabulary that I use.

[Deb]

Susan recommends: "helpful approach to learning anti-oppression skills. No sad guilty feelings, but 100% on point and reality-based."