What intrigues me about this chart is how organized and
information-rich it is, with its concentric circles. It raises awareness about
marginalized people, those at the periphery of the circle, and rather than
merely showing binary opposition (privileged vs underprivileged), it shows a
spectrum of three levels in each case. Here are a few examples:
- Mental health: vulnerable, mostly stable, and robust
- Disability: multiply disabled, some disability, able-bodied
- Neuro-diversity; multiply neuro-divergent, some neuro-divergence, and neuro-typical
- Funding sources: None/ very low, medium, and high
The wheel has been adapted by various authors. Sylvia Duckworth’s
“Wheel
of Power/ Privilege” appears to have been based on that of the Canadian Council for
Refugees who used it as a “Power
Wheel” on their website, under “Anti-oppression”. Theirs includes age,
language, indigenous status and level of education among other criteria. The
further away you are from the centre of the wheel, the less privileged you are,
in the sense that you suffer in society when you should not. Interestingly in
Canada, while the elderly are the least privileged in terms of age, the most
privileged are the middle-aged rather than the youth. Differences by
first language are also interesting; those whose main language is neither
English nor French are marginalized while English speakers are the most
privileged.
