The Age of Victimhood 

Are You a Victim? Of Course You Are

Course full. To go on waiting list please e-mail [email protected]

We live in age of victimhood. Obviously, many people have good reason to feel victimized in a society that is palpably unfair. However, victimhood is becoming an “industry” and a political tool, stoking anger and resentment. For many, their victimhood has become the essence of their lives, their very identity. Frank Bruni, of the New York Times, in his current book “The Age of Grievance” says the aggrieved on all sides “have lost — or lost interest in — the ability to see beyond their slights to a common good in which they don’t get all that they want.” 
 
There is now a hierarchy of victimhood, where my victimhood trumps yours. One is not only an "x", but also a "y", both victimized groups. The “intersectionality” of x and y gives one special victim status. “Micro-aggressions” are a cause celebre, ignoring the very real serious aggressions that som suffer and which some of our parents faced for being of a certain group. Yet they did not complain the way people do today. Now people look for a "safe space" where nobody can commit a micro-aggression against them. All this plays out on both sides of the political spectrum and way beyond formal politics. 
 
What does this obsessive and intense focus on personal victimhood do to our society? How is it being mobilized to destabilize our politics? Does it limit our ability to see ourselves as part of a broader whole, actually damaging the social fabric? In this course we’ll examine the phenomenon of the ubiquity of personal victimhood, its effects and how it can be mitigated, if in fact it should be.

Moderator: John Simke

Dates: Fridays  October 18 to November 1 (3 weeks) 2-4 pm

Location:  Victoria College , U of T, 91 Charles Street West, Nothrop Frye Room 119

Cost: $24

​Enrolment:  ​Course Full.  See enrolment terms and conditions here​​
​