Privilege Through the Looking Glass

Privilege Through the Looking-Glass, Third Edition is a revised and expanded collection of essays that explore privilege and status characteristics in daily life.

This collection seeks to make visible that which is often invisible. It seeks to sensitize us to things we have been taught not to see. Privilege, power, oppression, and domination operate in complex and insidious ways, impacting groups and individuals. And yet, these forces that affect our lives so deeply seem to at once operate in plain sight and lurk in the shadows, making them difficult to discern. Like water to a fish, environments are nearly impossible to perceive when we are immersed in them. This book attempts to expose our environments.

With engaging and powerful writing, the contributors share their personal stories as a means of connecting the personal and the public. This volume applies an intersectional perspective to explore how race, class, gender, sexuality, education, and ableness converge, creating the basis for privilege and oppression. Privilege Through the Looking-Glass encourages readers to engage in self and social reflection and can be used in a range of courses in sociology, social work, communication, education, gender studies, and Black studies. Each chapter includes discussion questions and/or activities for further engagement, making it a perfect classroom text.

Patricia Leavy, Ph.D. is a bestselling author. She has published over fifty books, earning commercial and critical success in both nonfiction and fiction, and her work has been translated into numerous languages. Over the course of her career, she has also served as series creator and editor for ten book series, and she cofounded Art/Research International: A Transdisciplinary Journal. She has received over one hundred book awards. She has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2016, Mogul, a global women’s empowerment network, named her an ＂Influencer.＂ In 2018, the National Women’s Hall of Fame honored her, and SUNY-New Paltz established the ＂Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.＂ In 2024 The London Arts-Based Research Centre established the ＂Patricia Leavy Award for Arts-Based Research.＂ Please visit www.patricialeavy.com for more information.