What does othering mean?
Othering is the act or process of treating someone or a group as an outsider by defining them as fundamentally different from the dominant or in-group. The word is especially common in sociology, psychology, race studies, gender studies, and disability studies, where it describes the role stereotypes and social boundaries can play in producing prejudice or exclusion. Othering is not simply the recognition that people differ; its critical sense concerns the conversion of difference into a hierarchy or a supposed divide between “us” and “them.” Language, images, institutions, and everyday encounters can all contribute to it. The term is therefore useful for examining how identity and belonging are socially constructed rather than merely observed.
The act or process of treating a person or group as an outsider, alien, or inferior to a dominant group.
"Institutional practices can reinforce the othering of people who do not conform to prevailing social norms."
Most often used as a mass noun. It generally carries a critical connotation, although it can refer neutrally to the wider process of marking social difference.
To treat a person or group as alien, inferior, or outside the dominant group.
"The advertisement risked othering rural communities by presenting urban life as the only acceptable standard."
Rare compared with the much more common noun use; its present-participle form is frequently encountered in academic prose.
Usually used as a mass noun, so a plural is uncommon; the plural appears chiefly when referring to separate instances of the process.
"The study examines the different otherings imposed on immigrants by newspapers and politicians."
Othering turns a difference into a dividing line: the person or group marked as different may also be denied full belonging.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does othering come from?
Othering is formed from the verb other, meaning to treat as different or alien, together with the suffix -ing. The base other comes from Old English ōþer and has relatives in other Germanic languages, including German andere and Dutch ander. In modern usage, the verbal noun especially developed in social-scientific discussion of classification, exclusion, and group identity.
How othering is actually used
Chiefly used in academic and public discussion, especially in sociology, psychology, race studies, gender studies, and disability studies. Although the word can describe classification in a neutral sense, it usually implies an unequal boundary in which the designated other is marginalized, excluded, or treated as inferior.