Civilized Oppression and Moral Relations - by J Harvey (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book discusses how civilized oppression (the oppression that involves neither violence nor the law) can be overcome by re-examining our participation in it. Moral community, solidarity and education are offered as vibrant strategies to overcome the hurt and marginalization that stem from civilized oppression.

Review Quotes

"Admirers of Jean Harvey's earlier work will be fascinated to read Civilized Oppression and Moral Relations. Yet this new book also stands on its own and is an important development of Harvey's insights into the relationships among the agents of civilized oppression, their victims, and the bystanders who witness it. Drawing upon feminist philosophy, Harvey recognizes the 'shared fallibility' of agents, bystanders, and victims alike, and argues compellingly for the importance of personal relationships and moral solidarity as ways to resist civilized oppression." - Christine D. Overall, Queen's University, Canada

"Combining careful analysis with compelling prose, Jean Harvey argues that communal togetherness informs obligations to learn, and to understand, how oppression functions in individual social relations. Harvey challenges us to recognize the fallible in ourselves and others even as she constructs the theoretical bulwark for a moral community. Civilized Oppression and Moral Relations offers a transforming vision of social justice essential for feminist social and political theory and practice.' - Sally J. Scholz, Villanova University, USA, and editor, Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy

"In this new book, Jean Harvey minimizes neither the harms of oppression nor the culpability of those who participate in it. But her inclusive conceptualization of the moral community leaves open the space for moral repair, for reconciliation, and ultimately, for hope. Her ideas will continue to enrich discussions in oppression studies for years to come." Carol Hay, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA

'The philosophical world has suffered a profound loss with the passing of Jean Harvey, and we are lucky she left us one last gift. In her final volume, Harvey expands and deepens her analysis of the subtle and often invisible injuries and injustices that together constitute civilized oppression, and she also explores the possibility of resistance to that oppression, through her analysis of the moral and political agency of victims, implicated bystanders, those standing in solidarity, and oppressors. The result is a deft piece of moral and political philosophy that will be valuable to scholars, teachers, students, and activists.' - Alice MacLachlan, York University, Canada, and Co-Editor, Feminist Philosophy Quarterly

About the Author

Jean Harvey was Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Guelph, Canada.