ABSTRACT
Personal exploration and reflection are crucial to understanding individual roles in the dynamics of diversity, privilege, and social justice. Diversity is a way of describing difference. These power differentials vary from place to place because cultures assign different meaning to identities. Social justice is an important concept in alternative breaks because it frames the work as both immediate and long term. Privilege exists because of the power dynamic that arises from the social constructions of difference. Alternative breakers who experience privilege should be especially attuned to the dynamics of cultural imperialism so they can avoid overrunning the values of the local community with their own cultural values and ideas. Oppression, privilege, and power dynamics are quite often related to the root causes of social issues in communities around the world.
