Do you think activists dehumanize people when analyzing in discussions?
by 
Indielauper
ANSWERS: 2
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Whenever people become "numbers", there is some deshumanizing going on. But any sort of statistical analysis requires numbers, regardless of who (activists, policy makers, instructors, etc.) makes the analysis. This shouldn't be a reason to throw out analysis techniques, which are useful in many fields. However, we should always keep the "human factor" in the back of our minds, and remember that people are people, with a mind, a heart, a soul/spiritual sphere. I would generalize your comment, and the implied warning, to anybody who does analysis involving people (why pick on one group?).
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I think the cause can become more important than the people. This is a danger inherent in wrapping oneself up in any kind of flag - you disappear inside it. I work at a civil rights nonprofit legal agency. Years ago we initiated a lawsuit, class action, to ensure that prisoners with mental illnesses receive treatment while incarcerated. Class actions are usually referred to by the name of one of the people making up the class, so this lawsuit was referred to as (for example) "Garcia v. Such-and-such County Detention Center". I asked one of the attorneys what ever had happened to Mr. Garcia, after whom the lawsuit was named. The attorney had no idea! The people for whom the lawsuit was supposed to have been launched were forgotten.
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