Term Ableism Advocacy Ally Anti-oppression theory Antisemitism Appropriation; cultural appropriation Bias Catechism of the Catholic Church Catholic Social Teaching Colonization Critical disability theory Critical race theory Definition Prejudice, stereotyping, and/or discrimination directed against people who have developmental, emotional, physical, sensory, or health-related disabilities. Ableism may be evident in organizational and institutional structures, policies, procedures, and programs, as well as in the attitudes and behaviour of individuals. Action in support of a cause, including the attempt to influence public policy with respect to that cause. someone from a privileged group who is aware of how oppression works and struggles alongside members of an oppressed group to take action to end oppression. the framework for understanding the world and one’s own place in it, questioning and challenging one’s practices, and creating new approaches that counter oppression and lead toward reconciliation and decolonization. Prejudice, stereotyping, and/or discrimination directed against individual Jews or the Jewish people on the basis of their culture and religion. Antisemitism may be evident in organizational and institutional structures, policies, procedures, and programs, and in the attitudes and behaviour of individuals. The act of taking or making use of another group’s property, cultural expressions, traditions, and/or ways of being without authority or right. An opinion, preference, prejudice, or inclination that limits an individual’s or group’s ability to make fair, objective, or accurate judgement. It is a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians Catholic social teaching, commonly abbreviated CST, is an area of Catholic doctrine concerning matters of human dignity and the common good in society. The ideas address oppression, the role of the state, subsidiarity, social organization, concern for social justice, and issues of wealth distribution. A practice of domination that involves the political, economic, and/or cultural subjugation of one people by another. Critical disability theory (CDT) is a framework for the analysis of disability which centres disability and challenges the ableist assumptions which shape society. Critical Race Theory, or CRT, is a theoretical and interpretive mode that examines the appearance of race and racism across dominant cultural modes of expression. In adopting this approach, CRT scholars attempt to understand how victims of systemic racism are affected by cultural perceptions of race and how they are able to represent themselves to counter prejudice. Cultural relativism Culture Discrimination Diversity Encyclical Equality Equity Ethnicity Feminism Feminist analysis Gender Gender-based violence Gender binary Gender identity The view that norms and values need to be understood within the context of the culture in which they are found, that they are equally valid, and that none are inherently superior. The customary beliefs, values, social forms, and material traits of an ethnic, religious, or social group. See individual discrimination; systemic discrimination The presence of a wide range of human qualities and attributes within a group, organization, or society. The dimensions of diversity include, but are not limited to, ancestry, culture, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, language, physical and intellectual ability, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. They get their name from the Greek word for circle, or circular. Important letters from the pope would be forwarded to bishops and local churches, who would then copy and forward them to other bishops and local churches, until the entire Church received the message. A condition in which all people are treated the same way, regardless of individual differences. See also equity. Fair, inclusive, and respectful treatment of all people. Equity does not mean treating all people the same, without regard for individual differences. See also equality. The shared national, ethnocultural, racial, linguistic, and/or religious heritage or background of a group of people, whether or not they live in their country of origin. Theories, movements, and actions that aim to promote social, economic, and political equity for women, and to challenge and eliminate sexism. Feminist analysis is grounded in an understanding of fundamental power differentials between women and men. The characteristics of women and men that are socially constructed. Any form of behaviour – including psychological, physical, and sexual behaviour – that is based on another individual’s gender and is intended to control, humiliate, or harm that individual. This form of violence is generally directed towards women and girls and is based on an attitude or prejudice, which may be conscious or unconscious and may exist on the individual and/or institutional level, that aims to subordinate an individual or group on the basis of sex and/or gender identity. The societal and cultural classification of gender into two distinct categories – masculine and feminine. A person’s sense of self with respect to being male or female. Gender identity is different from sexual orientation and may be different from birth-assigned sex. Gender performance The ways in which an individual enacts, or refuses to enact, the gender norms deemed to be appropriate to the individual’s sexed body. Harassment A form of discrimination that may include unwelcome attention and remarks, jokes, threats, name calling, touching, or other behaviour that insults, offends, or demeans someone because of his or her identity. Harassment involves conduct or comments that are known to be, or should reasonably be known to be, offensive, inappropriate, intimidating, and/or hostile. Homophobia A disparaging or hostile attitude or a negative bias, which may be overt or unspoken and may exist at an individual and/or a systemic level, towards people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). human rights Rights that recognize the dignity and worth of every person, and provide for equal rights and opportunities without discrimination, regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or other similar factors. Indigenous Local and indigenous knowledge refers to the understandings, skills and knowledge approach philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings. For rural and indigenous peoples, local knowledge informs decision-making about fundamental aspects of day-to-day life. Individual Unfair or unequal treatment based on race, ethnic origin, sex, sexual discrimination orientation, religion, age, and other similar factors, perpetrated by an individual person against another person or group. See also systemic discrimination. Intersectionality The overlapping, in the context of an individual or group, of two or more prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code, or other similar factors, that may result in additional biases or barriers to equity for that individual or group. Intersex Referring to people who are born with sex chromosomes, external genitalia, or internal reproductive systems that are not considered standard for either males or females. The existence of intersexuals calls into question rigid binary categorizations of biological sex into male and female. LGBT The initialism used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. A broader range of identities is also sometimes implied by this initialism, or they may be represented more explicitly by LGBTTIQ, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual or twospirited, intersex, and queer or questioning. Magisterium Marginalization Matriarchy Microaggressions Multiculturalism Oppression Magisterium refers to the teaching authority of the Church, formed of the Bishops. There are THREE different types and levels of magisterium. Ordinary magisterium This is when the Bishops of the Church teach what the Church has always taught. They teach the basics of the Catholic faith. Conciliar magisterium This involves all the Bishops of the Church being called together to form a council to discuss Church teachings and issues. The most recent council was held in the 1960s when the Second Vatican Council took place. This council made major changes in Church teachings and practices, including the Mass being able to be celebrated in the vernacular language, which refers to the local language of the country or place that the Mass is celebrated. Pontifical magisterium This is when a papal infallible statement is made. Although only the Pope himself can make a papal infallible statement, he will have consulted with the Bishops of the Church by holding discussions beforehand. The process of being relegated to the margins of society and having little or no social power. Marginalization may affect individuals or larger groups, including women and racial, ethnic, and religious groups. A social structure or social organization ruled by women. Also, a social organization in which descent or inheritance is determined through a female line. brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioural, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative slights, invalidations, and insults to an individual or group because of their marginalized status in society. The acceptance of cultural pluralism as a positive and distinctive feature of society. In Canada, multiculturalism is government policy, and includes initiatives designed to support cultural pluralism at all levels of government. The exercise of power or authority by an individual or group to subjugate a less powerful individual or group, using physical, psychological, social, and/or economic threats or force. The term can also refer to injustices suffered by marginalized groups in their everyday interactions with members of more powerful groups. The marginalized groups usually lack the means to effectively challenge their oppression. Systemic: It is systemic and societal. It is not just individuals with prejudiced beliefs and actions, but rather is embedded within the structure of society. Power imbalance: It involves a dominant or more powerful group exploiting a less powerful group based on perceived differences between the groups. There is always a power imbalance at play. Denial: The powerful group often denies that oppression exists or accepts it as being normal or right. Patriarchy Post colonial theory Post-modernism Power Prejudice The norms, values, beliefs, systems, and sociocultural, political, economic, and familial structures that afford power and privilege to men, and thereby marginalize and subordinate women. Postcolonial theory is a body of thought primarily concerned with accounting for the political, aesthetic, economic, historical, and social impact of European colonial rule around the world in the 18th through the 20th century. Postcolonial theory takes many different shapes and interventions, but all share a fundamental claim: that the world we inhabit is impossible to understand except in relationship to the history of imperialism and colonial rule. In Western philosophy, a late 20th-century movement characterized by broad skepticism, subjectivism, or relativism; a general suspicion of reason; and an acute sensitivity to the role of ideology in asserting and maintaining political and economic power. The ability of people to control their environment, including, at times, the behaviour of others. In any society, people with power have the greatest access to resources and can exercise control with only minimal thought to the effect on others. Societies tend to be dominated by those in “unmarked categories of power” – that is, people who are part of a group that represents the norm against which all other groups are compared. Examples of unmarked categories of power are “whiteness”, “masculinity”, and “heterosexuality”. See also privilege. Preconceptions, attitudes, and/or opinions held by a person about a particular group that tend to denigrate that group, despite the absence of sound or legitimate reasons to do so. When such attitudes are held by people with power, they can result in acts of discrimination and oppression against groups or individuals. Privilege Race Racial profiling Racialized group Reconciliation Scripture Sex Sexism Sexual orientation Social constructionism Social justice The experience of rights, benefits, advantages, access, and/or opportunities granted members of a dominant group. Privilege is usually taken for granted by members of the majority or advantaged group, who do not recognize that minority or disadvantaged groups do not share the same rights, benefits, and opportunities. A social construct that groups people on the basis of common ancestry and characteristics such as colour of skin, hair texture, and/or the shape of eyes and other facial features. The term is used to designate the categories into which societies divide people according to such characteristics. Race is often confused with ethnicity, but there may be several ethnic groups within a racial group. See also ethnicity. Any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security, or public protection that relies on stereotypes about race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin, rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or differential treatment. A group of people who may experience social inequities on the basis of race, colour, and/or ethnicity, and who may be subjected to differential treatment. addressing past wrongs done to Indigenous Peoples, making amends, and improving relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to create a better future for all. the sacred writings of Christianity contained in the Bible Refers to the categorization of people as male or female, based on characteristics that are biologically determined. See also gender and gender identity. Prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination directed against people on the basis of their sex or gender. Sexism may be evident in organizational and institutional structures, policies, procedures, and programs, as well as in the attitudes and behaviour of individuals. A person’s sense of sexual attraction to people of the same sex, the opposite sex, or both sexes. The theory that certain social phenomena, which do not necessarily exist in and of themselves, can be created, institutionalized, and made “real” simply because they are agreed to and acted on by social groups. Concepts such as marriage, race, and gender are considered to be social constructions. A concept based on the belief that each individual and group within a given society has a right to equal opportunity, civil liberties, and full participation in the social, educational, economic, institutional, and moral freedoms and responsibilities of that society. Stereotype Systemic discrimination Transgender A false or generalized, and usually negative, conception of a group of people that results in the unconscious or conscious categorization of each member of that group, without regard for individual differences. Stereotyping may be based on race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, disability, or other similar factors. A pattern of discrimination that arises out of apparently neutral institutional policies or practices, that is reinforced by institutional structures and power dynamics, and that results in the differential and unequal treatment of members of certain groups. See also individual discrimination. A term applied to individuals whose gender identity is not consistent with their biological sex. Transgender is not a sexual orientation.
