Brutkey

Horizontal Hostility. Having failed to fight against those in power, ppl take out their anger and frustrations on each other. It is a lot easier to fight the person next to you than someone in a distant house of parliament or corporate headquarters. And if victory continues to elude them, it’s because their would-be allies are reactionaries, or vanguardists, or dangerous anarchists and vandals. Ppl who are willing to fight back often have more fiery and combative personalities, so such conflict is easy to provoke. The term “horizontal hostility” was coined by Black intersectionalist feminist and civil rights organizer Florynce Kennedy; she called it “misdirected anger that rightly should be focused on the external causes of oppression.” Ann Hansen explained to me that this phenomenon is so destructive that intelligence agencies “like CSIS and the RCMP don’t have to spend one cent in our communities, because people spend all their time attacking each other over the little things instead of talking about strategy.” Michael Albert, writing about what happens to ppl who encounter a movement for the 1st time, asks: “Does this person merge into a growing community of people, feel more secure and appreciated, feel a growing sense of personal worth and of contribution to something valuable, and enjoy a sense of accomplishment? . . . Or does this person meet a lot of other people who continually question her motives and behavior, making her feel insecure and constantly criticized?”
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📆📆 Created At
2025-08-06T15:19:19.200Z
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📜📜 Alt Text / Comment
Horizontal Hostility. Having failed to fight against those in power, ppl take out their anger and frustrations on each other. It is a lot easier to fight the person next to you than someone in a distant house of parliament or corporate headquarters. And if victory continues to elude them, it’s because their would-be allies are reactionaries, or vanguardists, or dangerous anarchists and vandals. Ppl who are willing to fight back often have more fiery and combative personalities, so such conflict is easy to provoke. The term “horizontal hostility” was coined by Black intersectionalist feminist and civil rights organizer Florynce Kennedy; she called it “misdirected anger that rightly should be focused on the external causes of oppression.” Ann Hansen explained to me that this phenomenon is so destructive that intelligence agencies “like CSIS and the RCMP don’t have to spend one cent in our communities, because people spend all their time attacking each other over the little things instead of talking about strategy.” Michael Albert, writing about what happens to ppl who encounter a movement for the 1st time, asks: “Does this person merge into a growing community of people, feel more secure and appreciated, feel a growing sense of personal worth and of contribution to something valuable, and enjoy a sense of accomplishment? . . . Or does this person meet a lot of other people who continually question her motives and behavior, making her feel insecure and constantly criticized?”
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