Politicizing voice

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Abstract
When we speak and write, we do so from social locations that are constituted by discourse and experience. Moreover, because all social locations are not equal, because some are attended by privilege and others by marginalization, our socially located voices have political implications. In this essay I explore some troublesome implications of uncritically equating social location with political position in our evaluation of the voices we create and hear. I argue that crucial to unpacking the politics of social location are (1) an understanding of differences within as well as among categories of oppression and privilege, and (2) a recognition that the political implications of social locations are not necessarily the same as the political commitments of the individuals who occupy them.

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