5.7 Socioeconomic inclusion
Socioeconomic status is a complex grouping of factors that indicate social status. While centred on wealth, education, and occupation, it also intersects with racial, cultural, gender, sexuality, and geographical/physical factors.1 Terminology used to describe class and more broadly, this type of status, often conveys societal perceptions of an individual’s worth. Archivists should be cautious to avoid phrasing that diminishes the agency of individuals or denies existing systemic barriers (e.g. idea of pulling oneself by their bootstraps). Include socioeconomic information only when relevant to understanding the records. Some examples of common terms that carry stigma follow:
| Instead of… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| Slum, ghetto | Low-income area, neighborhood, settlement |
| Impoverished, poor, struggling, vulnerable, disadvantaged, poverty-stricken | Low-income, low-wealth, facing barriers due to poverty |
| Homeless person | Individual / person experiencing homelessness underhoused unhoused |
| Prostitute | Sex worker |
| Marginalized | systematically marginalized |
| Oppressed | systematically oppressed |
Additional resources:
Kreckmann, Alison. “Socioeconomic Status.” In The ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication. ACS Guide to Scholarly Communication. American Chemical Society, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsguide.60109
DC Fiscal Policy Institute. “DCFPI Style Guide for Inclusive Language,” 2017. https://www.dcfpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Style-Guide-for-Inclusive-Language_Dec-2017.pdf
Endnotes
-
Taken as direct quote. Western Libraries, “Western Libraries Inclusive Language Guide,” 26. ↩