Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank
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Product Description
Product Description
When discrimination is race-based, we call it racism; when it's gender based we call it sexism. This book introduces rank-based discrimination -- or 'rankism' -- a form of injustice that everyone knows, but no one sees. It explains our reluctance to confront rankism, shows where analyses based on identity fall short and, using dozens of examples, traces many forms of injustice and unfairness back to rankism.
About the Author
Robert Fuller taught physics at Columbia University in New York, where he co-authored the classic text Mathematics for Classical and Quantum Physics. He then served as president of Oberlin College and, subsequently, worked internationally as a 'citizen diplomat' to promote democracy in developing nations. He has four children, and lives in Berkeley, California.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
a rather pointless book,states the obvious and sums up that it would be nice to live in a fairer world.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
35 reviews
43 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Seeing through the social fog
2 May 2003
Format:Hardcover
This is the book that I'm giving my friends for Christmas. I can't recommend it highly enough! It has sharpened my vision when I look at the everyday life around me, and how I cope with my family's attempts at manipulation and how I evaluate what I read in history, or in the newspaper or what I see on TV.
Even after all the work that we might have done in changing our attitudes about racism, sexism and any other ism we've known about, there's still been a lurking discomfort that we might not have been able to put our fingers on. This is what Robert Fuller calls "rankism."
Once you read this book, you'll see how rankism infects every aspect of our lives.
The signals can be very subtle, as in the old hooks that snare us when we turn into children in the presence of our parents. But now this author has articulated what we might not have been able to and given us ways to cope with things that we may have had only a felt sense about.
Until a few weeks ago, I enjoyed watching "The West Wing" on TV. The writing is so smart, so snappy, the actors were who I wish were running the country. Then last night C. J. Craig condescended to a new employee, telling him how little she thought of him as he was about 17 steps below her in rank. I felt a little stab of pain, as some of the pleasure was removed from the one show I looked forward to seeing.
Another interesting take on how rankism affects us all concerns the way certain U.S. Indian tribes are flipping the status they've had to endure for several centuries. With the advent of casinos and money, tribes are now standing up and saying, "We're still here. We count. We have clout. You can't ignore us or roll over us anymore." How they express this new power is a mirror image of the ways they were treated, and it's greatly unsettling to many politicians, townspeople near them, and casino visitors.
I'd like to take issue with one point in the editorial review which said, "...the book falls short of providing enough concrete steps on how to fight this abuse, including only two brief chapters."
Think about it: was there any one book that told us during the civil rights era what racism was and how to combat it, any one book with neat social recipes that required no more suggestions, training, or thought? What was needed then is exactly what is needed now--- many people thinking about how rankism robs us of our dignity and often wealth and health and our very lives. And each of us will confront differing situations which will require creativity and courage and hard thought. This is the book that begins to hone our awareness. Many more books will have to be written about how people confronted and defused or resolved the problems that this mindset engenders.
This book is a well-written opening statement. Maybe he'll write another one that contains the many stories of what people saw after they were aware of rankism and what they did about it. We can only hope so.
Even after all the work that we might have done in changing our attitudes about racism, sexism and any other ism we've known about, there's still been a lurking discomfort that we might not have been able to put our fingers on. This is what Robert Fuller calls "rankism."
Once you read this book, you'll see how rankism infects every aspect of our lives.
The signals can be very subtle, as in the old hooks that snare us when we turn into children in the presence of our parents. But now this author has articulated what we might not have been able to and given us ways to cope with things that we may have had only a felt sense about.
Until a few weeks ago, I enjoyed watching "The West Wing" on TV. The writing is so smart, so snappy, the actors were who I wish were running the country. Then last night C. J. Craig condescended to a new employee, telling him how little she thought of him as he was about 17 steps below her in rank. I felt a little stab of pain, as some of the pleasure was removed from the one show I looked forward to seeing.
Another interesting take on how rankism affects us all concerns the way certain U.S. Indian tribes are flipping the status they've had to endure for several centuries. With the advent of casinos and money, tribes are now standing up and saying, "We're still here. We count. We have clout. You can't ignore us or roll over us anymore." How they express this new power is a mirror image of the ways they were treated, and it's greatly unsettling to many politicians, townspeople near them, and casino visitors.
I'd like to take issue with one point in the editorial review which said, "...the book falls short of providing enough concrete steps on how to fight this abuse, including only two brief chapters."
Think about it: was there any one book that told us during the civil rights era what racism was and how to combat it, any one book with neat social recipes that required no more suggestions, training, or thought? What was needed then is exactly what is needed now--- many people thinking about how rankism robs us of our dignity and often wealth and health and our very lives. And each of us will confront differing situations which will require creativity and courage and hard thought. This is the book that begins to hone our awareness. Many more books will have to be written about how people confronted and defused or resolved the problems that this mindset engenders.
This book is a well-written opening statement. Maybe he'll write another one that contains the many stories of what people saw after they were aware of rankism and what they did about it. We can only hope so.
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Dignity is non-negotiable
12 May 2003
Format:Hardcover
I bought Somebodies and Nobodies in addition to Collins' Good to Great and am deeply grateful that i found both these books at the same time. Collins showed how "great" companies eliminate rankism from the work environment, but Fuller's book gives even more context and breadth to this issue.
This book clearly and powerfully puts into words an underlying issue that takes great courage to expose--that discrimination based on rank is no more justified than descrimination based on race or gender.
Throughout this book Fuller shows that he aims to protect others' dignity as he would his own.
Many thanks to both these authors for their contributions to my personal and professional life!
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful
A noble concept buried in a dry book
8 April 2005
Format:Paperback
The underlying premise of this book, that all people deserve to be treated with equal dignity, is an old concept, often embodied in the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you'd have done unto yourself"). However, the primary point here seems to be that creating a new terminology will enable a more productive discussion of the abuses of rank that rob people of their dignity. Whether such a discussion would inevitably lead to the societal changes suggest here is unclear, but the goals are certainly admirable.
However noble the author's intentions, this book is a bit of a chore to read. The arguments quickly become repetitive, and the text is quite dry. I wasn't full drawn into the book, and frequently found my attention wandering. The most interesting portions of the book are the anecdotes, which serve to illustrate the author's points quite clearly. Aside from these brief highlights, much of the rest of the book is heavy and cumbersome, required a great deal of focus to read.
However noble the author's intentions, this book is a bit of a chore to read. The arguments quickly become repetitive, and the text is quite dry. I wasn't full drawn into the book, and frequently found my attention wandering. The most interesting portions of the book are the anecdotes, which serve to illustrate the author's points quite clearly. Aside from these brief highlights, much of the rest of the book is heavy and cumbersome, required a great deal of focus to read.
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