Abstract
American society is analyzed as a gender-class system wherein tokenism is defined as a form of interclass mobility. Two role partners, Sponsor and Token, sustain the institution of tokenism: the Token is a member of the deviant class and the Sponsor is a member of the dominant class. The content and functioning of this role partnership are broadly defined. The limitations of tokenism and implications for change in the social system are discussed.
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Laws, J.L. The psychology of tokenism: An analysis. Sex Roles 1, 51–67 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287213
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287213