The intersectional turn in feminist theory: A dream of a common language?

Abstract

Today intersectionality has expanded from being primarily a metaphor within structuralist feminist research to an all-encompassing theory. This article discusses this increasing dedication to intersectionality in European feminist research. How come intersectionality has developed into a signifier for 'good feminist research' at this particular point in time? Drawing on poststructuralist and postcolonial theory the authors examine key articles on intersectionality as well as special issues devoted to the concept. They interrogate the conflicts and meaning making processes as well as the genealogies of the concept. Thus, the epistemology and ontology behind the 'intersectional turn' in feminist theory is the main concern here. The authors argue that the lack of ontological discussions has lead to its very popularity. Intersectionality promises almost everything: to provide complexity, overcome divisions and to serve as a critical tool. However, the expansion of the scope of intersectionality has created a consensus that conceals fruitful and necessary conflicts within feminism.

The feminisation of migration and the migrants VET policy neglects: the case of skilled women secondary migrants in Australia

“…There is debate about the critical edge provided by the concept of intersectionality since it has become a slippery catch-all term embraced by theoretical positions as diverse as those advocating a structural and (black) standpoint feminism, those advocating post-structuralist and post-colonialist perspectives (Brah and Phoenix 2004;Phoenix and Pattynama 2006) and even some liberalbased feminist projects (Carbin and Edenheim 2013). For the purposes of this article, the understanding of intersectionality that I draw on is informed by Walby's (2009) critical realist and complexity insights which focus on intersectionality as sets of unequal social relations, regimes and social systems that are mutually shaped by 'the actions of the powerful, as well as of the disadvantaged' (Walby, Armstrong, and Strid 2012, 236).…”

A Web of opportunity or the same old story? Women digital entrepreneurs and intersectionality theory

“…Instead, exclusionary categories, and the social inequalities they precipitate, are understood as interdependent and mutually constitutive (Bradley and Healy, 2008;Healy et al, 2011). Although a contested construct (Carbin and Edenheim, 2013;Geerts and van der Tuin, 2013), it is nevertheless efficacious in revealing how multiple dimensions of social inequality shape experiences of digital entrepreneurship, posited as a pathway to ameliorate the effects of such inequalities.…”

From intersectionality to interference: Feminist onto-epistemological reflections on the politics of representation

“…This article follows Verloo by asking whether we should move from the paradigm of intersectionality in contemporary gender studies to the realm of interference. Inspired by the so-called 'feminist new materialist' critique of social constructivism, which allows us to focus on the ontological dimension of intersectional research, we first present a genealogy of intersectional thought and its epistemological premises (see also Carbin & Edenheim, 2013). We then reflect on how intersectionality's identity politics (or its politics of representation) is related to representationalism (i.e., the epistemological backbone of essentialism and constructivism alike).…”