Interpersonal Race and Gender Kinds and Ontic Oppression

Abstract This chapter introduces a second variety of race and gender kinds, ‘interpersonal race and gender kinds’, drawing on Ásta’s account of social categories as conferred social statuses. Interpersonal kinds are unified by the interpersonal constraints and enablements that individuals fall under in a particular context. The chapter shows how these kinds fit into the constraints and enablements framework and argues for a particular understanding of the role that deontic normativity plays in constructing interpersonal kinds, which is a point of departure from Ásta’s account. Finally, it argues that some interpersonal race and gender kinds are ontically oppressive, but others are not, and some even have an emancipatory function.