Yet for most of the late medieval and early modern era, Europeans understood privilege to be the basis of political, economic, and social life. The current focus on privilege among academics and activists grew largely out of the work of Peggy McIntosh in the late 1980s. In the midst of all this discussion of privilege, it has almost been forgotten that the concept of privilege, and critiques of privilege as the source of society’s ills, are nothing new in history. “Privilege studies” is a growing field, with more and more scholar-activists devoting themselves to its practice.

In the classroom and in the media, people are increasingly asked (or made) to measure, acknowledge, and strive to reduce their privilege. Donald Trump, of course, as countless media outlets insist, is (white, male) privilege personnifed his supporters, meanwhile, are said to demonstrate the extent of their own privilege by denying that privilege exists. Supporters of the latter candidates returned fire, targeting Hillary voters as privileged centrists out of touch with America’s economic and racial inequalities. Supporters of Hillary Clinton criticized voters for Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein as privileged radicals risking a Trump victory for the sake of inflexible principles. It appears in an increasing and disorienting number of forms, from male privilege and white privilege, to “ gay privilege,” “ black male privilege,” and “ family privilege,” and these claims about privilege animate a wide array of political stances. In recent years, ‘privilege’ has become an important concept in modern politics, academia, and popular culture.

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