Intersectionality and Public Policy: Some Lessons from Existing Models

Abstract

In comparison to research practices, intersectionality is an underdeveloped concept within policy discourse and application. Because of the complexity and relative newness of this approach, policy analysis grounded within an intersectionality framework remains largely undertheorized, and methods for integrating intersectionality into policy processes are in the nascent stages. This article (1) defines intersectionality and demonstrates the need for this approach in public policy, (2) outlines challenges in applying intersectionality to policy making, and (3) describes and evaluates three innovative approaches to applying intersectionality to policy development and analysis.

Within-Gender Differences in Medical Decision Making Among Male Carriers of the BRCA Genetic Mutation for Hereditary Breast Cancer

“…Recent health research suggests that an intersectional approach can serve to uncover the diversity of health-related impacts (Hankivsky & Cormier, 2011). Taking an intersectional approach to sex/gender differences provides a lens for the critical consideration of the range of social factors that comprise BRCA-positive men's unique psychological, sociocultural standpoint-their age, ethnic status, social class, sexual preference, and so on.…”

Legal Harmonization and Intersectionality in Swedish and Norwegian Anti-discrimination Reform

“…analyses of inequality in national policies (Hankivsky and Cormier 2011;Parken 2010;Williams 2009). This is also the case with regard to anti-discrimination legislation (see Krizsan, Skjeie, and to what extent they are framed similarly or differently, whether they discuss intersectional outcomes of the two reform processes.…”

Ciudadanas en la encrucijada: ciudadanía íntima/sexual e interseccionalidad en el caso de las mujeres con diversidad funcional.

“…No obstante, nuestro país está dando sus primeros pasos en la institucionalización de una política de múltiple discriminación como consecuencia de la influencia europea en este asunto (Bustelo, 2009) y debe ser mencionado que la complejidad y la relativa novedad de las perspectivas interseccionales las convierten en un desafío para aquellas personas que diseñan e implementan las políticas públicas (Hankivsky y Cormier, 2011). Existen varias clasificaciones a la hora de explicar las distintas políticas públicas en un eje de interseccionalidad/no interseccionalidad de las mismas.…”