After reading these two articles, I was reminded of the concept of the never-ending cycle. With Domination and Subordination, it would seem that these two concepts reflect this cycle. The Dominant group as described by Miller believes that the normal way of life is a good way of life and that there should not be change. The idea of Change is one that scares and bothers the dominant group. Subordinates who are usually oppressed feel the need to change but are put down by the system put in place by the dominant group. Because its hard for the submissive group to rise to equality, the system remains the same and the subordinates are less motivated and it makes it almost impossible for the rise to equality. One thing in Cheney’s article that I found important was “Dissent at work often involves the ability to challenge existing policies without fear of retribution and it can be encouraged or discouraged at the level of the organization’s climate.” For the most part, challenging the dominant group is rare and very hard to do. Because socialization factors lead people to live and believe certain things, the subordinates are already at a disadvantage and it makes it harder for the dominant group to understand why change needs to be made. There is always a challenge and less collaboration between the groups which is why change is soo hard and why miller explains that those groups don’t actually work to elevate the inferior to equality instead they are kept in the same place and even as time goes on the cycle continues to work and change is minimal.
Domination/Subordination + Dissent
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In your post I like the connection you made with domination and subordination and connected it to the never ending cycle which I found really interesting. I also agree with the fact that you said that the more dominant group is more scared of change which makes a lot of sense to me.
I think that this has a lot to do with why oppressive status quos change very slowly. The civil rights movement for example, people of color were kept down and labeled as submissive and white people were dominant. This took centuries to change but eventually, it got better. We still have a long way to go but the racial situation now has improved since the 1800s.
The whole concept of domination and subordination reminds of the idea about how the “oppressed stay oppressed unless they become the oppressor” which is not okay, obviously. It also reminds me of how developing countries tend to stay developing because the already developed countries exploit them and do not allow them to thrive and it is really sad that we see this on any level, but in this case on the human level because we are all people. I get how some will be like “higher” than others in terms of jobs but I feel like that does not mean they are automatically better because we have those toxic leaders and things like that.
I also marked the definition of dissent in Cheney’s article, and I thought that the “without fear of retribution” component was interesting because when I think about the key moments in history where the subordinate group made progress in gaining rights, retribution is always there. The most obvious example I can think of right now is MLK was murdered for the actions he took.
I really like the connection you made. I totally agree that that is what brings about change and we need them to bring about change in society. People who are comfortable do not wish to make change.
I think your point about the “never ending cycle” is a depressing yet true reality of our society. The systematic inequality forced on the subordinated by the dominates makes it incredibly hard if not impossible for the subordinates to maintain a level of motivation to rise up. Systematic oppression must be met with motivation to change from both the subordinates and dominants. It is almost as if the stars must align for any change to happen or to stick.