Oppression and Conflict: Introduction

Additional insights into oppression are offered by Beyond Intractability project participants.

Oppression is at the root of many of the most serious, enduring conflicts in the world today. Racial and religious conflicts; conflicts between dictatorial governments and their citizens; the battle between the sexes; conflicts between management and labor; and conflicts between heterosexuals and homosexuals all stem, in whole or in part, to oppression.

This section of the knowledge base explores oppression: what causes it, and what can be done to address it. Most of the essays in this section (including this one) are drawn from a larger essay originally entitled "Oppression and Conflict[1]" Since that essay was too long to stand alone in Beyond Intractability, it is here divided up into six essays, which together make up an "oppression" section of the website. We hope to have more essays written by other authors on related topics in the future. In addition to this short introduction, the essays in this section currently include:

1. The Nature and Origins of Oppression;

2. The Forms of Oppression;

3. What Keeps Oppression in Place?

4. Awakening the Sense of Injustice;

5. Overcoming Oppression with Power;

6. Overcoming Oppression Through Persuasion

[1] The original paper was delivered as a plenary address at the annual meetings of the International Society of Justice Research in Skovde, Sweden on June 17, 2002.

Sources of Additional, In-depth Information on this Topic