Interrogating intersectionality: Productive ways of theorising multiple positioning

Abstract

Intersectionality is an increasingly popular feminist approach to theorising and analysing the fact that everybody is simultaneously positioned in multiple social categories. It is, however, a much debated concept. This paper considers recent literature on intersectionality to discuss current debates on the concept. In particular, it considers whether, on the one hand, intersectionality fails to address structural inequalities because it focuses on agency and, on the other, if it produces fixed conceptualisations of structure. The paper argues that the most productive versions of intersectionality are those that draw on postmodern ideas. In these versions social categories and their associated positions and identities are treated as fluid and multiple while recognising that structure and culture are mutually constitutive. The paper also considers whether intersectional theory produces so many intersections that it be comes impossible to know which should be analysed at any particular time. In addition it discusses the methodologies employed by intersectional researchers. It suggests that those analysing intersections have to take strategic and creative decisions about which are the most relevant intersections for specific groups or individuals at particular times and on particular issues. Intersectional methodologies are in the process of development. However, the paper highlights a variety of methodologies used by feminist researchers and argues that the study of intersectionality will continue to be characterised by multiple methods.

Social geography I: Intersectionality

“…Crenshaw's (1991) work is often cited as the source of intersectionality, yet others were working with the ideas of intersectionality well before this as Crenshaw herself is quick to acknowledge (Guidroz and Berger, 2009;Phoenix, 2006). Collins and Bilge (2016: 83) observe that the oft-made claims that Crenshaw 'coined' the term 'not only routinely neglect the writings and activities of many people who came before Crenshaw, but also misread the full extent of Crenshaw's arguments' (see also Tomlinson, 2013).…”

Media Representation of Women Politicians from a Gender to an Intersectionality Perspective

“…Seemingly, there are gendered differences in the way the parliamentarians perform privacy on their web sites (Hansen 2009 I approach intersectionality by drawing on the work of Phoenix to derive a conceptual language for recognizing that everybody is positioned simultaneously within social categories, such as class, ethnicity, gender, race, and sexuality. So even when focusing particularly on one social category, intersectionality reminds us that we cannot understand the category in isolation (Phoenix 2006). A perspective of intersectionality can reveal diversity among women and among men and illustrate how categories of difference and social divisions can be used for different purposes for different people, depending on their positioning.…”

“…Crenshaw 1994, Phoenix 2006, Yuval-Davis 2006. Therefore, a perspective of intersectionality offers the possibility of analysing the ways in which socio-cultural hierarchies interact and create inclusion and exclusion on the basis of discursive or institutional categories.…”

Representations of individuals in discourses oflaïcitéfromLe Monde: confirming or challenging the republican framework of identity?

“…Originating from black feminism, intersectionality is utilized to disrupt positions typically represented as normal or unproblematic (such as 'man' or 'white') by regarding all categories as infused with power (Phoenix, 2013). In conceptualizing identities as fluid, relational and locally-situated constructions, intersectionality counters essentialist views (Levine-Rasky, 2011).…”

“…Building on this assumption, the categories and the power structures that transpire them are understood as intertwined. Exploring how individuals are positioned across several categories in specific contexts helps map out larger societal, political, and historical power relations (Phoenix, 2013). The understanding of categories and power structures being intertwined in complex but mutually constructive ways is at the heart of intersectionality (Bredström, 2006;Collins, 1998).…”