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As with many articles on the subject, I think it's important to define what precisely "safe spaces" mean. The Economist attempts to define a "good" version: >
by thedz 11y ago
As with many articles on the subject, I think it's important to define what precisely "safe spaces" mean.
The Economist attempts to define a "good" version:
> Like many bad ideas, the notion of safe spaces at universities has its roots in a good one. Gay people once used the term to refer to bars and clubs where they could gather without fear, at a time when many states still had laws against sodomy.
I've seen it written elsewhere that there are many existing safe space where people can come together and talk: an Asian American gathering, or Black Student Union meetings, or LGBT support groups, etc. I think these spaces are critical for the comfortable discussion and sharing of some pretty private details about a person's struggles and thoughts. These spaces aren't meant to dissuade dissenting opinion so much as provide a place where people feel safe to express their thoughts with others who understand, empathize, or have undergone similar situations/thoughts.
But there's always going to be impletations taken to extremes, and the Economist article appears to be targeting those. But I wonder: exactly how prevalent are safe spaces that act as "justification for shutting out ideas"?
At least anecdotally, I haven't seen that many. This feels like taking what seems to me a minority of safe spaces and painting the entire idea with broad strokes.
I worry that people are strawmanning the idea of safe spaces by only using egregious examples as examples of bad, while ignoring the (IMO) vast amounts of good they have helped foster.
- rashkov 11y agoThat's a really interesting historical perspective, thanks for bringing it up. That concept of safe spaces seems wholly constructive and positive. However I think the concept has been coopted by an illiberal leftist movement on college campuses. Its practitioners seek to shut down dissent on the topics of race and sexuality in particular. It seems to be a return of the political correctness movement. There was an interesting article on it recently: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/01/secret-confessions-of-the-anti-anti-pc-crowd.html http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/01/secret-confessi...
- aetherson 11y agoMy only real experience with "safe spaces" has been a continuing call for an internet forum that I frequented to be a "safe space." In my experience with that, 100% of the time "safe space" meant "throw out anyone who disagrees with me even a little on this topic."
- 1123581321 11y agoMetaTalk, I'm guessing?
- doktrin 11y agoThanks for the thoughtful contribution. I suspect the term 'safe space' has at least partially gone the way of 'hacker' in popular consciousness - but that doesn't have to stop anyone from using it.
- mc32 11y agoThe historical sense of safe places is a good idea. Places where a class can feel free(er) from judgement and can also feel free(er) to discuss things which may be more difficult outside the safe places. So, a student org. house, a "siblingity". The issue is wanting to make whole campuses and extending beyond into safe places and also wanting to control others' abilities and rights to express themselves. That's the issue.
- thedz 11y ago> The issue is wanting to make whole campuses and extending beyond into safe places and also wanting to control others' abilities and rights to express themselves. That's the issue. I agree that can be an issue, but I think that's also stretching the normal definition of "safe spaces" quite a bit. And I'm wary of articles like this that take that stretched definition, and apply it across the board.