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Stereotypes violate the postmodern construction of personal autonomy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 March 2017

Chris C. Martin*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322. chris.martin.e@gmail.comwww.chriscmartin.com

Abstract

Individual autonomy, as constructed in the postmodern era, is violated by stereotypes, which makes stereotype accuracy morally unpalatable. Yet people are clustered and homogenized by social forces, entailing some accuracy in stereotypes. This tension can be ameliorated by unveiling the constructed nature of autonomous selfhood, and explaining why social clustering has occurred and been adaptive.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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