Open, productive conversation can easily be stifled when there’s a difference, real or perceived, in the status of those involved. This is one of the many problems outlined in ‘Somebodies and Nobodies’ the excellent book by the American academic, writer and campaigner Robert W. Fuller.
It’s a passionate exposé of one of the last great ‘isms’ – rankism – which, like racism and sexism, deserves a special place in the dustbin of history. Anybody who’s ever felt the sting of being made to feel a ‘nobody’ by a (supposed) ‘somebody’ will instantly recognise the picture he paints – and maybe even want to do something about it…