Complicity Theory

Abstract

Complicity theory offers an approach to the critical consideration of difference and identity that highlights the ways in which agents are implicated in social and symbolic systems of oppression and domination. Originally conceived of as a “theory of negative difference,” it has evolved to consider how the adaptive impulses of power and privilege limit the transformative potential of discourse. The theory continues to offer a unique and provocative lens through which to analyze and understand difference, identity, and domination.