Political and Cultural Terminology

Overview

Many Schlesinger Library collections document powerful and sometimes divisive political and social movements and cultural issues.  These include the debates surrounding pornography, sex work, and abortion, as well as impactful social movements such as women’s and LGBTQ+ rights. We are exploring how we can productively apply the inclusive language/reparative description model beyond the framework of personal identity (race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.) to cover aspects of political and cultural affinities. We also are making efforts to be more inclusive and accurate about how we describe individuals in society. Our goal is to be respectful and to avoid dehumanizing language particularly when referring to socially marginalized communities. 

As with personal aspects of people’s identities, we want to describe people’s political activism and affiliation in the terms that are preferred by the creator/individual being described; or if that is not available to us, in terms that are publicly accepted and widely used today. As with other identities addressed in this style guide, we need to let the creator guide us on terminology but at the same time we need to be cognizant of how movements describe themselves. Language and terminology itself are often of critical importance to individuals and social movements. If we use terminology that may be favored by only one party or just by the creator in our description we will endeavor to clarify and explain its usage.

As we strive to embrace a more inclusive approach to this type of description, we will continue to assess our recommendations and focus. Below are a few examples.

Issues and examples

Pro-Choice/Pro-Life movements

The debate over abortion continues to be challenging, both politically and descriptively.  The Library of Congress Subject Headings include the terms “pro-life movement” and “pro-choice movement” and while these terms are not always favored by each side, their meaning is easily recognizable to most people and they continue to be in common use. For both these reasons, the Schlesinger also applies these terms in description. However, terminology can also shift over time or across organizations.  A creator may also just prefer another term that deviates from what is considered common usage.  For example, in the Joseph R. Stanton Pro-Life Collection, Joseph Stanton used multiple terms in the collection to describe the pro-choice movement, including pro-abortion. As we recommend in other cases described in this guide, we would keep creator-supplied language and would note why we are keeping it. 

We would also avoid using current terminology that would not be historically accurate.  For instance, the Schlesinger holds The Society for Humane Abortion records which was a group of activists in the 1960s, pre-Roe v. Wade.  The organization would not have described themselves as “pro-choice” since that terminology was not part of the movement at that time. So we do not use pro-choice in the finding aid description but instead describe the organization as fighting for abortion decriminalization. 

Undocumented immigrants

The term “Illegal alien” which describes immigrants to the United States who are undocumented can be interpreted as archaic and disparaging. Until recently, however, “illegal alien” was the Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH) for undocumented immigrants.  A movement to update the LCSH terminology was driven most recently by the film Change the Subject (2019) which relates the efforts of a group of Dartmouth University students and staff to confront the anti-immigrant sentiment within the library cataloging system.

In response to the film, Harvard Library’s Change the Subject Task Group was formed to support a change to Library of Congress Subject Headings.  They recommended changing the term “Aliens” (and related terms) to “Noncitizens,” and “Illegal aliens” (and related terms) to “Undocumented immigrants.” Soon after Harvard initiated these changes the Library of Congress updated their taxonomy, as well. While the term “Aliens” (and related terms) is now replaced by “Noncitizens,” in line with Harvard’s changes, the concepts covered by the heading “Illegal aliens” (and related terms) is represented by two headings: “Noncitizens” and “Illegal immigration.” 

In 2020, motivated by these conversations in the wider library community, the Schlesinger made important updates to description in the Elizabeth Holtzman papers finding aid.  Holtzman was a Representative in the United States Congress from 1973 through 1980. During her time in Congress she worked on issues related to undocumented immigrants and the military and humanitarian crisis in Southeast Asia. Her collection includes many original folders containing outdated terminology in their titles such as “illegal alien” and “Indochina.” The revised scope note for the collection now explains to researchers what terminology they will find within the finding aid and why:  

Original folder titles created by Holtzman or her staff have been retained when possible; in most cases folder titles added by the archivist have been put in brackets. Some of the original folder titles contain terminology which was commonly used at the time of Holtzman's tenure but which are now considered objectionable or outdated. For instance, undocumented immigrants are identified as "illegal aliens" or "illegal migrants," and mainland Southeast Asia is referred to as "Indochina." The archivist chose to preserve this language in an effort to maintain historical context.  

Other examples of descriptive terminology related to individuals and communities

In general, the recommendation for description is to default to terminology that prioritizes the person and to avoid conflating an individual’s humanity with their social or political condition. For people who are incarcerated, labels such as “criminal,” “inmate,” “convict,” or “felon” can be de-humanizing as they describe the person entirely by their punishment in society. Preferred language according to sources such as The Fortune Society and Leading Into New Communities (LINC) is to use language which more appropriately centers their humanity, such as “people who are incarcerated” or “person or individual with prior justice system involvement.” This catalog record for the Ruchell Magee Collection is a recent example where we strove to incorporate some of these recommendations in the biographical and scope notes.  The record does use the subject heading of “Prisoner,” since that is the current Library of Congress term and has not yet been updated. We added this to the record to aid in discoverability and because relevant alternative taxonomies are not currently available.

As with other cases throughout this guide, some individuals may prefer or reclaim terminology that others would interpret as anachronistic or derogatory. When possible, be mindful of the creator’s conscious use of terminology and their motivations behind their own description. 

Also, as much as possible be cognizant of new or updated terminology when working with political or cultural content. If you don’t have guidance from the creator be sure to consider whether or not applying new or updated terms would be appropriate. Some examples of new inclusive terminology includes sex positive instead of pornographic or sex worker instead of prostitute.  Keep in mind that different terminology may be needed for different collections.

Recommendations

• Research current terminology when working with political or cultural content to ensure that you are using the most up-to-date terms; however, give preference to describing people’s political activism and affiliation in the terms that they prefer or which were available to them.
• If using creator-supplied language that may be outdated or different from current terminology or language, note why these terms are being kept.
• Avoid dehumanizing language or language that conflates an individual’s humanity with their social or political condition, particularly when referring to socially marginalized communities. 

Resources:

Words Matter: Using Humanizing Language | The Fortune Society

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/04/12/what-words-we-use-and-avoid-when-covering-people-and-incarceration 

The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency about the U.S. criminal justice system. The Language Project makes recommendations on description for incarcerated people. 

https://lincnc.org/language-of-incarceration/

Leading Into New Communities (LINC) empowers people returning from prison to become employed, tax paying citizens, contributing to and strengthening the local economy.  This brief guide describes the importance of using people centered language.

https://diversity.uiowa.edu/programs/dei-style-guide/style-guide-immigration