National Network for Equitable Library Service

We call race-based discrimination racism; and gender-based discrimination sexism. In Somebodies and Nobodies, Fuller argues that rank-based discrimination, or 'rankism,' is a form of discrimination that we all accept. He explains our reluctance to confront rankism, and shows why our tendency to judge people based on their status often leads us astray. Using dozens of examples, Fuller shows how the many forms of injustice and unfairness we attribute to things like sexism and racism are, at base, rankism.