Intersectionality's Definitional Dilemmas

Abstract

The term intersectionality references the critical insight that race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, ability, and age operate not as unitary, mutually exclusive entities, but rather as reciprocally constructing phenomena. Despite this general consensus, definitions of what counts as intersectionality are far from clear. In this article, I analyze intersectionality as a knowledge project whose raison d'être lies in its attentiveness to power relations and social inequalities. I examine three interdependent sets of concerns: (a) intersectionality as a field of study that is situated within the power relations that it studies; (b) intersectionality as an analytical strategy that provides new angles of vision on social phenomena; and (c) intersectionality as critical praxis that informs social justice projects.

‘You’re disabled, why did you have sex in the first place?’ An intersectional analysis of experiences of disabled women with regard to their sexual and reproductive health and rights in Gujarat State, India

“…An effective intersectional approach is one that is non-additive, resists essentialising, and is concerned with implications for social action [20–22]. Whilst we aim to move away from the dominance of one social category [22–25], we prioritise gender as an analytical entry point in relation to disabled women’s SRH [18]. …”

¿Somos iguales? Using a structural violence framework to understand gender and health inequities from an intersectional perspective in the Peruvian Amazon

“…Violence can be traced through Peruvian history, from the invasion and colonization of the native, predominantly Incan, society by Spanish conquistadors in the 1530s, to a military dictatorship (and subsequent violent resistance movements such as the Sendero Luminoso ) throughout the second half of the twentieth century [2,24 27]. Through the 1990s the authoritarian government led by Fujimori appropriated popular feminist discourse around family planning to push a ‘forced sterilization’ surgical contraception programme targeted mainly at rural and Indigenous women [24 27].…”

“…Through the 1990s the authoritarian government led by Fujimori appropriated popular feminist discourse around family planning to push a ‘forced sterilization’ surgical contraception programme targeted mainly at rural and Indigenous women [24 27]. A history of systematic violence is reflected by current rates of GBV in rural areas: data demonstrate a national lifetime prevalence in rural Peru of up to 61% [25 28].…”

“…Third, government-run sterilization programmes of the 1990s reportedly violated human rights and targeted marginalized (rural, poor, ethnic minority) women, including participating communities [24]. One interviewee reportedly thought she was having a pap smear when she was sterilized without consent; she was incorrectly told that officials were just ‘…taking her uterus out and cleaning it’ (W, female interviewee, LNR).…”

“…Intersectionality is a research paradigm that attempts to understand how ‘race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, ability, and age operate not as unitary, mutually exclusive entities, but rather as reciprocally constructing phenomena’ [24, p. 2]. First coined by African American feminist scholars, intersectionality ‘moves beyond single or typically favoured categories of analysis (e.g.…”