Kyriarchy Definition: How a Kyriarchy Describes Social Systems

A kyriarchy is an intersectional and interlocking set of hierarchies, all of which do their part to privilege some and oppress and subjugate people of certain identity groups.

As an example, men might oppress women as a whole in the kyriarchal approach, but it’s also possible a white woman could oppress a Black man. Similarly, a Black woman with no disabilities might have more privilege than a Black woman with disabilities.

The benefit of viewing things in kyriarchal terms mainly lies in revealing the complexity of how oppressive systems operate—a person might find themselves both subjugated and privileged simultaneously at different levels of the kyriarchy.

The word “kyriarchy” derives from the Ancient Greek “κύριος” (kyrios) meaning “lord” or “master” and “ἀρχή” (archein or archy) meaning “authority” or “domination.”

Theologian and feminist scholar Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza was the first to use this term in such a way in her book But She Said: Feminist Practices of Biblical Interpretation. She believed forms of oppression expanded far beyond the realms of sexism alone, making it imperative to recognize this in any analytic approach to dismantling these structures.

Although Schüssler Fiorenza borrowed the word, some scholars now view it as a neologism (or new word). This is largely due to how much her definition of kyriarchy differs from the prior one. Where the word formerly meant basic sovereignty or authority, Fiorenza’s term entails oppressive, far-reaching, and disparate intersectional systems of oppression throughout all of history.

Kyriarchy refers to all forms of oppression and how they intersect with each other, whereas patriarchy refers to only men as oppressors. Where the former takes into account multiple hierarchies and forms of subordination, the latter focuses only on the dynamics of traditional sexism.

In other words, patriarchal oppression is a part of kyriarchal oppression, but the opposite is not true. Similarly, oppression of someone due to their ethnicity is kyriarchal but not patriarchal in nature.

The kyriarchy refers to a nuanced, overarching social system pointing to many uncomfortable truths about subjugation. Here are four benefits of using the kyriarchal approach to understand the complex nature of oppression:

• A more nuanced approach: The concept of kyriarchy allows for more nuance than more singular approaches. For example, rather than focus entirely on classism, it subsumes economic injustice into its calculations of how oppression works, pairing it with postcolonial realities as well as the effects of climate change, racism, sexism, and other oppressive systems.
• A more realistic depiction of the world: While it might be convenient and accurate to lay blame at the feet of one group for oppressing women throughout history, it’s not the full story. Patriarchy is an aspect of kyriarchy, but just one of many. Consider a woman from New York who participates in systems of oppression affecting other women in sweatshops simply because of where she shops. Though she might still experience sexist oppression herself, she also unconsciously engages in oppressive structures affecting other women. In the real world, structures of domination often intersect in ways that both privilege and oppress nearly everyone in one way or another.
• A more intersectional definition of oppression: Kyriarchy rests on the foundation of intersectionality—the belief that identity groups (as well as the privilege and lack thereof entailed in them) all interconnect in various ways. For example, the intersection of race, colonialism, and classism might affect a woman of one socioeconomic bracket differently compared to a woman of the same race at a different rung of the economic ladder.
• A more wide-angle approach to activism: Historically, certain social movements have excluded other groups of people in their quests for personal liberation. Those fighting against sexism and homophobia, for example, have not always protected the most vulnerable among them. Taking a kyriarchal view enables people to take an all-encompassing approach to advocating for social justice and equality for all people.

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