# Black Feminist Musings on Algorithmic Oppression

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.09869 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.09869/

## Key facts

- Cited by 12 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 4 of its 40 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 25 Jan 2021.

## Builds on (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [Decolonial AI: Decolonial Theory as Sociotechnical Foresight in Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.04068/) (2020)
- [Roles for Computing in Social Change](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.04883/) (2019)
- [Algorithmic Injustices: Towards a Relational Ethics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.07376/) (2019)
- [Oxford Handbook on AI Ethics Book Chapter on Race and Gender](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.06165/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [Ethical and social risks of harm from Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.04359/) (2021)
- [Factoring the Matrix of Domination: A Critical Review and Reimagination of Intersectionality in AI Fairness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.17555/) (2023)
- [Rethinking Fairness: An Interdisciplinary Survey of Critiques of Hegemonic ML Fairness Approaches](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.04460/) (2022)
- [`It is currently hodgepodge'': Examining AI/ML Practitioners' Challenges during Co-production of Responsible AI Values](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.10221/) (2023)
- [The Algorithmic Imprint](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.03275/) (2022)
- [Data Feminism for AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.01286/) (2024)
- [Definition drives design: Disability models and mechanisms of bias in AI technologies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.08287/) (2022)
- [The Fairness Field Guide: Perspectives from Social and Formal Sciences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.05216/) (2022)
- [Toward Substantive Intersectional Algorithmic Fairness: Desiderata for a Feminist Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.17944/) (2025)
- [Who Owns The Robot?: Four Ethical and Socio-technical Questions about Wellbeing Robots in the Real World through Community Engagement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.02624/) (2025)
- [Prompt injections as a tool for preserving identity in GAI image descriptions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.16128/) (2025)
- [Abstracted Away: Resisting Alienation and Ungrounded Abstraction in AI Research Communities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.08408/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper unapologetically reflects on the critical role that Black feminism can and should play in abolishing algorithmic oppression. Positioning algorithmic oppression in the broader field of feminist science and technology studies, I draw upon feminist philosophical critiques of science and technology and discuss histories and continuities of scientific oppression against historically marginalized people. Moreover, I examine the concepts of invisibility and hypervisibility in oppressive technologies a l'a the canonical double bind. Furthermore, I discuss what it means to call for diversity as a solution to algorithmic violence, and I critique dialectics of the fairness, accountability, and transparency community. I end by inviting you to envision and imagine the struggle to abolish algorithmic oppression by abolishing oppressive systems and shifting algorithmic development practices, including engaging our communities in scientific processes, centering marginalized communities in design, and consensual data and algorithmic practices.