The View from Here

Standpoint theory holds that a person’s position in society shapes what they are placed to notice. A manager may not see what a cleaner sees, and someone who uses a wheelchair sees what stairs do that a walker does not.

This is not a claim that one group is always right. It is a claim about information. People in less powerful positions often have to understand the powerful as well as their own world, and so can see what the powerful overlook. Leaving them out leaves a blind spot.

The practice is to ask who is missing from the room. Before settling a question that touches many lives, seek the view of those at its edge, and treat what they say as evidence, not as complaint.

The stairs

A committee designs a new library entrance with a grand staircase. All six members walk easily and like the look.

Nadia joins and uses a wheelchair. She points out that the ramp is round the back, by the bins. The committee had not noticed, because none of them needed it. They move the ramp to the front, and the entrance works for more people.

Try this today Before deciding something that affects others, ask one person from a different position what you are missing.