Date of Defense
4-18-1997
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Benjamin Wilson
Second Advisor
Dr. Tal Simmons
Abstract
In oppressive systems such as slavery, the dominant group often attempts to force their worldview, or at least their standards for behavior, on the subordinated group(s). However, subordinated people are not passive recipients of proscriptions for behavior and ideology. Individuals of the subordinated group have agency and actively choose when, where, and how to resist oppression through such acts as physical rebelling, running away, deliberately slowing work, breaking tools, feigning illness or incompetence, or creating their own worlds of meaning apart from that of the oppressors.
Recommended Citation
Naruta, Anna, "Power and Possessions: An Examination of How Enslaved African Americans Created Meanings Through Sources of Plantation Material Culture" (1997). Honors Theses. 1447.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/1447
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Campus Only