There’s this hypothesis in social justice psychology that in an oppressive relationship the oppressed cannot find liberation alone. The oppressor is also trapped and both have to find liberation together (iirc that’s the logic behind “none of us is free until all of us are free”)
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When I first heard the idea (there’s probably a canonical reference) it seemed wrong. The oppressor is clearly free in ways the oppressed is not.
Then I grokked the logic.
Now I’ve kinda flipped. I don’t think the oppressor can ever be free, but the oppressed have a shot at it.
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The chapter on the master/slave dialectic in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit kicked off the debate you’re describing. It’s also pretty short and uncharacteristically gripping (still turgid in absolute terms, pun intended). marxists.org/reference/arch
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Oh yeah I think I picked that up from Fukuyama’s gloss on it via Kojeve, which retains the basic psychology without going down the Marxist path with it

