Written in February 2025
The Wheel of Power and Privilege was developed by Sylvia Duckworth and has been adapted for different uses, notably in the academic world as a way of determining the order of authorship on co-authored papers. It was within this context that I first came across it in a meaningful way, during a Gresham College lecture titled “How Inequality Affects Mental Health” by Dr Lade Smith CBE.
The Wheel of Power and Privilege helps individuals understand which factors of their identity and being provide privilege, and which put them in a marginalised group. It is a useful exercise for everyone to do as a self-reflective practice and helps those who sit predominantly within the inner circle of power to understand factors that affect others, which they may not realise even exist.
The simplest fact of privilege is that those of us with privileges are often unaware of the advantage these have conferred on us. My experience of the world in which I’m seen (and treated) as a white, middle-class woman, are very different to the experiences of someone who is seen (and treated) as a black, middle-class woman.
That factor of skin colour and all the areas of someone’s identity which this influences make a huge difference in someone’s opportunities and experiences, even if all other factors are equal. I am more likely to be believed by medics when I report pain, and I am less likely to face open judgement for my sexuality or gender identity, than someone in the same situation who is black, or who is a person of colour.
When we talk about intersectionality, this is what we need to remember.
My profile
I’ve put a dot in each sector to denote where I sit within each factor. I am within, or on the edge of the power centre in eight of the twenty factors. I am within seven of the twenty factors and on the cusp of two on the middle to outer circles, and on the outer, marginalised ring on three of the twenty factors.
Some of these factors will never change. Some, however, are very likely to. Family status, mental health, disability, location, employment and body size are all, for me, open to fluctuation. Many of these factors are open to change; often it is when one of these factors does change due to outside circumstance, that people realise they previously enjoyed a privilege.
While I may be in marginalised groups for three to five of these factors, they are all invisible ones, so functionally, I am treated as if I were in the privileged group for all. Nobody, on first meeting me, knows anything about my disabilities, mental health, gender or sexual identity. This gives me enormous privilege to be initially accepted (if I am masking my autism effectively enough) by most people.
What I can do with this, is to engage in conversations, to challenge preconceptions and to interact with people who sit predominantly on the inner ring, and who would not listen to the testimony and thoughts of people who are not also “like them”. Being perceived and treated, for the most part, as “like them” affords me power that it is important to use sensitively, effectively, and to create (then hold) a space for discussion and acceptance.
This is something I can do as an ally.
Check out this version of the Wheel of Power and Privilege and plot your own profile – it’s a simple yet worthwhile exercise to do which shows you where your privileges lie. With this information you can get a much better understanding of how who you are (seen as) shapes your life experiences, and gain insight into how the experiences of others are influenced by these factors.