This subfield explores how media industries are structured and how this structure can perpetuate social and racial inequality.
Race: The concept of race and racial identity, and how these factors are linked to structural inequality.
Intersectionality: The idea that multiple social categories, such as race, gender, and class, interact to create unique and complex forms of oppression.
Social construction: The understanding that race is a social construct, rather than a biological fact, and that it is created and maintained through cultural and institutional practices.
Stereotypes: The harmful and inaccurate generalizations that are often applied to people based on their race or other categorical characteristics.
Implicit bias: The unconscious attitudes and beliefs that individuals hold about members of different racial groups, which can affect their behavior and decision-making.
Power and privilege: The ways in which social structures and institutions disproportionately benefit some groups, while disadvantaging others.
Media representation: The portrayal of racial groups in popular media, and how these representations perpetuate or challenge structural inequality.
Systemic racism: The ways in which racism is built into social structures and institutions, such as education and criminal justice.
White supremacy: The pervasive belief that white people are inherently superior to people of color, which underlies many forms of structural inequality.
Allyship and action: The importance of taking action to address structural inequality and support marginalized communities, as well as the principles of effective allyship.
Racism: This includes discrimination and marginalization of individuals or groups based on their race or ethnicity, resulting in unequal access to resources, power, and opportunities.
Sexism: This type of inequality is characterized by discrimination and marginalization based on gender, resulting in unequal access to opportunities, resources, and power.
Classism: This type of inequality results from the unequal distribution of wealth, power, resources, and opportunities, where individuals or groups are marginalized based on their socioeconomic status.
Ageism: This type of inequality is characterized by discrimination and marginalization based on age, resulting in unequal access to resources, opportunities, and power.
Ableism: This type of inequality results from discrimination and marginalization based on an individual's physical or mental disability, resulting in unequal access to resources, opportunities, and power.
Heterosexism: This includes discrimination and marginalization based on sexual orientation or gender identity, resulting in unequal access to resources, opportunities, and power.
Religious discrimination: This type of inequality results from discrimination and marginalization based on an individual's religious beliefs, resulting in unequal access to resources, opportunities, and power.