Intersectionality as a Useful Tool

Abstract

This article introduces intersectionality as a usable tool for critical reflection, which as a part of the critical social work tradition aims to challenge oppression and inequality. It is argued that in critical reflection, oppression and injustice are often understood in general terms and that oppression and inequalities related to gender, sexuality, class, and race therefore risk being neutralized and undetected. The suggestion is made that by using an intersectional approach, which focuses the interplay and complexity between gender, sexuality, class, and race, critical reflection gets the capacity to keep central power relations in urgent focus.

Talk about race: using critical race theory to support black social work students and prepare a representative and critical workforce

“…Syllabi should include readings that allow students to develop an understanding of CRT and its application to SW education and practice (see Abrams & Moio, 2009;Mattsson, 2014;Deepak et al, 2015;Ortiz & Jani, 2010 for useful examples), and readings that use a critical lens to assess community strengths (see Yosso, 2005). While classroom discussions are the mainstay of developing these skills, offering students written assignments through journaling or papers, further allows spaces for continued and more private processing of their reactions beyond the classroom.…”

“…Without a focus on race and racism, the CC model systematically dismisses the duplications of injustice within the SW classroom, agency settings, and larger society. Essentially, sans a critical analysis of race and racism, social workers of all races risk becoming effective arms of oppression by simply doing their job with good intentions, without questioning the inequality and injustice they encounter daily within the profession (Mattsson, 2014).…”

“…The NASW called for a paradigm shift in SW education, practice, research, and policymaking, to include the use of an intersectional lens, with its appreciation for the complexity of oppression both historical and contemporary in American society (NASW Press, 2009). Intersectionality is defined as the complex interplay of identities (race, age, class, gender, sexuality, and ability), which form multilayered experiences of oppression and privilege within one's personal identity while simultaneously affecting one's societal hierarchical positioning (Mattsson, 2014;Yuval-Davis, 2006). In stark contrast to the colorblind approach built into the CC model, intersectionality centers discussions of privilege and oppression, including discussions of race, and allows room for nuance in the human experience.…”

Noqu Vale: Community organisation professionals’ views on what works and what needs to change for Pasifika housing

“…Social work analysis and action in the Pasifika housing field of practice in Aotearoa New Zealand must take cognisance of the context of coloniality (Mignalo, 2011) which manifests in the overrepresentation of Pasifika in poor housing conditions. Critical and anti-oppressive social work approaches, which address the intersectionality of race, gender and class (Mattsson, 2014), are therefore called for.…”

A Landscape of Intersecting Discourses

“…In terms of theory, the framework used for this study does not adequately explore or analyze the social dimensions of identity, such as gender. This is a common issue when using critical reflection, as it often focuses on general power relations (Mattsson, 2014). Considering the particular inequalities of class and gender that occur in the social work profession (Dent, 2017;Newberry-Koroluk, 2018), further attention is warranted in this area.…”