An oppressed class becomes a We-subject only by objectifying its oppressors as Them.

Evidence

At bottom we are dealing with a variation of the project already described of transforming the one who is looking into the one who is looked-at; it is the usual passage from one to the other of the two great fundamental attitudes of the for-others. The oppressed class can, in fact, affirm itself as a We-subject only in relation to the oppressing class and at the latter’s expense; that is, by transforming it in turn into “they-as-objects” or “Them.” — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1031

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The oppressed class has only a negative self-definition, which is why oppression must end — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 87; Oppressed groups become Subjects by saying ‘we,’ which women have failed to do. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 56

Broader Connections

• The oppressed class has only a negative self-definition, which is why oppression must end #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 87
• Oppressed groups become Subjects by saying ‘we,’ which women have failed to do. #expands (0.80) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 56