In the same breath, people call us courageous and pitiful. What is that about? |
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an interview with John McKnight
This interview first appeared in Mouth magazine #42 in May 1997
John McKnight is Director of Community Studies at the Institute for Policy Research and also Professor of Communication Studies and Urban Affairs at Northwestern University. He is author of Community Building from the Inside Out with John Kretzmann. His more recent book is The Careless Society, a collection of his articles and essays. |
Why are we labelled at all?
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There
are ways we talk about people so that they are separated
from and less than us.
Those ways usually have labels
that go with them -- for instance, welfare recipient,
ex-convict, developmentally disabled. It
doesn't matter what the intentions of the labels are --
whether it's good or bad, it all comes out the same,
somebody is going to make money by fixing you, by making you
a client. The people who call other people needy are the
people who need needs. The idea of clienthood has reduced people's humanity. |
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-- editor |
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