(Un)check your privilege

The discussion of privilege is currently in vogue. In the past, privilege meant 'special right.' In today's usage, 'privilege' refers to advantages of all kinds, often unearned and unjust. However, the broader the term is defined, the less it can accurately describe reality. The 'white man' generally has better chances than the 'white woman' or a person of a different skin color. If all white people are privileged and person X is white, is person X always privileged? Is that really true? Where does 'white' begin and end, and who decides that? How does Slavophobia fit into this picture? What does the hashtag #JewishPrivilege mean? And what about leftist punks singing 'don't call me white!'?

In this essay, Jörg Scheller restores the historical context and specificity of the term privilege – with surprising examples from such diverse areas as hardcore punk, anarchism, social networks, and Eastern European cultures.