Articulated Insight – “News, Race and Culture in the Information Age”
“Let’s just use common sense.”
This phrase often surfaces in organizations after long, exhausting meetings. It’s a signal to stop the circular discussions and focus on being “practical.” However, over time, I’ve noticed that invoking “common sense” isn’t always about logic—it’s often about defending the status quo.
Common Sense Isn’t Neutral
Common sense feels obvious because it aligns with what we’ve been taught is normal. Political theorist Antonio Gramsci argued that common sense isn’t just everyday wisdom—it’s the accumulation of dominant beliefs that, over time, feel natural. Culture becomes assumption, and opinion starts to masquerade as fact.
In the United States, what qualifies as “common” is deeply influenced by race, class, and power. For those who’ve navigated schools, workplaces, and other institutions without their competence being questioned, common sense feels smooth—it validates their experience. But for those who’ve had to rehearse their words, read the room twice, or endure policies that disproportionately affect them, common sense feels less obvious—and far less fair.
The difference isn’t about who’s reasonable and who isn’t. It’s about where each of us stands within the landscape of what’s considered “common.”
How “Common Sense” Ends the Conversation
What’s striking is how quickly conversations shut down when someone invokes common sense. The phrase “This is just common sense” can make disagreement sound unreasonable and curiosity seem like ignorance.
Philosopher Michel Foucault wrote about how power operates best when it becomes invisible. The strongest systems don’t announce themselves—they appear as “just the way things are.” But institutions, policies, and standards are designed, often reflecting white, middle-class, and Western histories of thought and behavior. When a new way of operating challenges the dominant narrative, it rarely gets included under the umbrella of common sense.
In these moments, common sense stops guiding and starts policing. It dismisses lived experiences in favor of what’s deemed “normal.” Common sense is powerful because it doesn’t look like power—it looks like obviousness.
How to Start Unmasking Common Sense
Unmasking common sense doesn’t mean abandoning practicality or denying shared ground. It means pausing before shutting down a conversation. It means asking critical questions like:
- Common to whom?
- Obvious based on whose history and story?
- Who benefits when this is treated as self-evident?
- Who pays the price when we never question it?
As a social scientist, I value data, rigor, and evidence. But I also care about what we choose to recognize as evidence in the first place. Common sense feels sturdy, like something we can lean on. But when we look closely, we often find it’s just familiarity disguised as truth.
In Scholarship and Solidarity,
Andrea Davis, PhD
References
- Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Pantheon Books.
- Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks. International Publishers.
#CommonSense #SocialJustice #CulturalAnalysis
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