Oppressive Praise

Abstract This is a book about praise: in particular, the expressions we use to elevate others, esteem them, celebrate the things they do. These expressions are a pervasive feature of social life: within families, between friends or colleagues, in institutional settings such as education and employment. Despite this, praise has attracted comparatively little philosophical attention, perhaps because—unlike its putative counterpart, blame—praise is assumed to be a benefit; an expression of positive appraisal that requires little scrutiny or justification. This book argues that, on the contrary, our practices of praising can be harmful, and implicated in oppression. It introduces cases of oppressive praise, using them to develop a diagnosis of when and why praise is oppressive, and an account of praise that focuses on its function in affirming and entrenching values in a community. This role of praise is essential to understanding moral appraisal as a social practice, and one that can be implicated in social hierarchy and oppression. The book offers an ameliorative framework: a set of norms for how we express praise; and how we might respond to and resist oppressive praise.