Intersectional geographies and COVID-19

Abstract

<jats:p> We argue that it is time for geography as a discipline to embrace intersectionality. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as the subject of analysis, we raise questions for geographers about the novel coronavirus’ overlapping impacts. We argue that intersectional feminist approaches yield anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-oppressive research outcomes. </jats:p>

The Covid-19 Pandemics: why Intersectionality Matters

“…Future research with an intersectional perspective is required to understand the complexity of the current situation and tailor policy responses to cope with this complexity. The empirical evidence provided in this article has confirmed the stances of those authors that call for intersectionality in analyzing the effects of Covid-19 ( Bowleg, 2020 ; Eaves and Al-Hindi, 2020 ; Ryan and El Ayadi, 2020 ; Wenham et al, 2020 ). Up to now, data have been just collected without sufficiently considering how the different structures of inequality intersect.…”

“…Furthermore, home confinement and school closure have also implied an increase of gender-based violence, since women and children were locked up with their persecutors without the capacity to evade or to ask for help (Evans et al, 2020;Fisher et al, 2020). Data from the US showed an increase of up to 30% of reports on intimate violence (Eaves and Al-Hindi, 2020), a trend confirmed in China (Sacco et al, 2020). In other countries, the number of reports dramatically fell, as happened in Italy (Sacco et al, 2020), because of the impossibility for women to ask for help outside the family.…”

“…In fact, intersectionality considers what occurs when multiple axes of inequalities enter in relation, so that gender should always be seen in interactive and complex relations with other factors, such as ethnicity, class, age, etc. ( Berkhout and Richardson, 2020 ; Eaves and Al-Hindi, 2020 ; Ryan and El Ayadi, 2020 ). Under this perspective, these structures of inequalities are «crosscutting and mutually reinforcing systems of domination and subordination», which «may construct multiple, uneven and contradictory social patterns» ( Anthias 2005 , 36–37).…”

“…Like other more recent pandemics such as the Spanish flu in 1918 or HIV in the '80s, the virus spread more easily among the vulnerable population. Furthermore, the economic consequences of social distancing measures are leading to an increase of inequalities compared to pre-pandemic times (Alfani, 2020;Haase, 2020;Montenovo et al, 2020;Ryan and El Ayadi, 2020) and interact with pre-existing inequalities along dimensions such as gender, age, socioeconomic conditions, geography (Eaves and Al-Hindi, 2020). However, the current debate on the effects of Covid-19 has not sufficiently considered how the intersections between existing structures of inequalities affect the impact of Covid-19 on societies.…”

“More-than-viral” Eurasian geographies of the covid-19 pandemic: interconnections, inequalities, and geopolitics

“…In the current pandemic, this includes those facing gaps in appropriate health care access, those most disadvantaged in economies heading into recession, and those whose identities and living conditions intensify their vulnerabilities. Intersectionality engages the simultaneity of oppressions in the lives of individuals and communities (Eaves and Al-Hindi 2020). Creţan and Light (2020, this volume), provide an example when they discuss the treatment of Roma communities in Romania.…”