A dystopia is a form of social stratification, in which a hierarchy oppresses and/or exploiting lower classes.
Slavery could be seen as a dystopia. The first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia 400 years ago. Not by choice, by force. Enslaved people were not seen as people but as commodities to be bought, sold and exploited. The journey was horrible and the conditions onboard were worse. Almost half the captives had died by the time the ship was seized by two English pirate ships. In Young’s Five Faces of Oppression, oppression is described as a structural concept. “Oppression refers to structural phenomena that immobilize or diminish a group.“, said Young and I believe that oppression and dystopia are similar and go hand and hand. I believe that my thoughts of dystopia has significantly grown over the course of the semester.
