Oppressors only experience class unity as a feared object when the oppressed revolt
Evidence
The question here is not, as so often said, one of maneuvers or of a stupid refusal to see the situation in its true light; rather the member of the oppressing class sees the totality of the oppressed class confronting him as an objective ensemble of “they-subjects” without his correlatively realizing his community of being with the other members of the oppressing class. The two experiences are in no way complementary; in fact one may be alone in the face of an oppressed collectivity and still be able to grasp it as an object-instrument and apprehend oneself as the internal-negation of this collectivity; i.e., simply as the impartial Third. It is only when the oppressed class by revolution or by a sudden increase of its power posits itself as “they-who-look-at” in the face of members of the oppressing class, it is only then that the oppressors experience themselves as “Us.” But this will be in fear and shame and as an Us-object. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1042
Categorization
- DEEPTHINKING: Inverts the intuitive symmetry of class consciousness and reframes oppressor self-knowledge as derivative and reactive — worth sitting with.
- XREF: Connects directly to the ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ essay’s pattern of ruling-class self-blindness, and to Fanon’s account of the colonized gaze challenging the colonizer. — connects to: The ruling class unites only through shared fear of the masses — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 495; Fear of rebellion produced harsher Black codes rather than emancipation — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 401; Class consciousness arises from being looked at by oppressors, not from material hardship. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1028 (+1 more)
- SEED: Possible essay: how the dominated class manufactures the dominant class’s very sense of collective identity, and what this means for allyship.
Broader Connections
- The ruling class unites only through shared fear of the masses
#corroborates(0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 495 - Fear of rebellion produced harsher Black codes rather than emancipation
#exemplifies(0.80) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 401