Silencing

The process by which voices can be excluded from a conversation. Activist and writer Rebecca Solnit (in her essay Cassandra Among the Creeps) describes three concentric circles of silencing: from self-editing and fear of speaking out, to threats intended to silence, to the discrediting of a shared story and its narrator. A dominant culture or set of group dynamics can result in silencing, without any individual intending to do so. See also Dominant Voice /Dominant Story and Etiquette.

Citation: Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement. (2021) CSCCE Glossary: Inclusive Language in Community Building. Woodley, Pratt, Bakker, Bertipaglia, Dow, El Zein, Kuwana, Lower, Roca, and Santistevan doi: 10.5281/zenodo.5718783