Power, privilege and justice: intersectionality as human rights?

Abstract

How can we best connect and understand issues of power, privilege and justice in a human rights framework? One approach, offered here, is to explicitly position intersectionality as a useful theoretical lens that can assist a critical understanding of the connections between the three substantive issues. It does this via a close examination of the situation in Scotland via Show Racism the Red Card, an anti-racist NGO that works with school-age children to raise awareness on the power of prejudice and discrimination in everyday, interrelated lives. It is shown that despite its often-reported complexities, intersectionality in practice can be made to work both conceptually and methodologically in environments such as classrooms. The realization of rights is foregrounded but it is argued that in order to achieve this standing, an appreciation of context, politics, social divisions and outcomes vis-à-vis inclusive equalities needs to be fully grasped. The case study of Show Racism the Red Card helpfully situates the nuances of intersectionality as both theory and method in Scotland, illustrating the need for human rights to be mindful of where it is as much as where it comes from. Overall, it is suggested that the example of Scotland offers opportunities to witness a critique of how power, privilege and justice are connected and challenged in a human rights context and how rights can be realized in everyday settings.

Black First-Year College Students’ Alcohol Outcome Expectancies

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