Confronting Toxic Othering: Understanding and Taming the Hydra

Confronting Toxic Othering embarks on an ambitious quest to interrogate the root causes of all global social and environmental problems. Drawing upon the myth of the Hydra, the essays illustrate how each of the creature’s heads symbolizes eight fundamental and pervasive privileging forces, each fueled by the tendency to 'other' individuals based on differences such as race, class, or colonial history. Informed by the author's teaching experiences with students in both the United States and Bangladesh, readers are encouraged to learn from the evolution of thoughts that culminate in the formulation of 'Critical Hydra Theory'. Fully detailed in the concluding chapters, this theory highlights the intersectionality inherent in all eight forces of privilege. The book serves as an invaluable tool for classroom or workplace dialogues on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, offering numerous provocative exercises designed to deepen the reader's understanding of their own privileges. In our troubled world, addressing social justice issues can be a daunting task. Confronting Toxic Othering offers a unique and robust tool to assist readers in becoming even more effective agents of progressive social change toward a more just world for all humans.