ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I describe the cultural, historical, political, and social contexts in which the U.S. creative sector exists. I argue that an addiction to power enables the ways in which U.S. society socializes citizens to its context by casting them into a systemic Matrix based on devalued and valued social identities. I also reflect on access, diversity, equity, and inclusion’s (ADEI’s) aspiration to shift the U.S. away from caste as a mode of operandi to a pluralistic democracy that enables the flourishing of all humans, regardless of their social identities. Lastly, I discuss the importance of eradicating caste and the discrimination, exclusion, marginalization, othering, oppression, subalterning, and subjugation that it produces, specifically within the creative sector. I close this chapter by describing my positionality and provide a definition of key terms that I use throughout this book.
