Mapping the Travels of Intersectionality Scholarship: A Citation Network Analysis

Abstract

In this study, we conducted a citation network analysis of intersectionality scholarship. We aimed to elucidate content domains in this scholarship’s citation network. In addition, we explored a citation-based genealogy of this scholarship, attending to the representation of women of color identified in prior critical analyses of intersectionality scholarship as key but under-acknowledged contributors to intersectional thought and praxis. We used CitNetExplorer to analyze a network of 17,332 records and 60,132 citation links. The analysis yielded 17 clusters, with the five largest clusters focusing on (1) conceptualizing intersectionality theory, methodology, and analysis; (2) psychology, identity stigma, and multiple minority statuses; (3) sociology of gender inequality, labor markets, and organizations; (4) political science, political systems and policy, including in the European context; and (5) violence against women, gender and health, and health equity. Although some of the key women of color contributors to intersectional thought were among the most cited authors in the network, others were cited infrequently or not at all across the network and clusters. Taken together, the analyses revealed substantial and ongoing engagement with efforts to define and refine intersectionality as epistemology and methodology. However, the analyses pointed to the need for scholars to reengage with, cite, and follow the examples of the women of color who contributed to intersectional thought by actually doing intersectional praxis that directly advances social justice aims. Some of the smaller clusters in the citation network reflected content domains, such as environmental justice and community planning, ripe for such activist-scholar work. Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/0361684320902408

Mapping the terrain of Journal of Counseling Psychology: A citation network analysis.

“…Furthermore, the highest cited publications in this facet's clusters (clusters 1, 2, 5, 8, 11, and 19) suggest that counseling, counseling process, and counseling outcome publications in JCP underwent a paradigm shift in approximately the 1980s, moving from a focus on perceptions of counselors (cluster 1) to perceptions of counseling (cluster 2), with the latter including more nuanced examinations of what happens in counseling interactions and extending this focus to related domains such as perceptions of supervision. Another observation in the clusters of this facet and others is that methodology, analysis, and measurement development articles tend to be among the most highly cited, a pattern observed in prior citation network analyses as well (e.g., Moradi et al, 2020).…”

“…As such, citation network analysis reveals domains reflected in the citation patterns of a body of literature, how these domains are connected or disconnected, and how they evolve over time. Citation network analyses have been conducted across numerous areas and scholarly journals, including in engineering (Dawson et al, 2014; Kajikawa & Takeda, 2009), medicine (Shibata et al, 2011), masculinity studies (Parent et al, 2018), and intersectional scholarship (Moradi et al, 2020).…”

Centering Matrices of Domination: Steps Toward a More Intersectional Vocational Psychology

“…While some branches of psychology-such as counseling-have been both responsive and forceful with their integration of intersectional theory into research (see Moradi et al, 2020), career guidance and vocational psychology have lagged notably behind (Fouad & Kozlowski, 2019). Quantity of studies aside, vocational psychology research has tended to focus on a more additive, microlevel of analysis-the role of "multiple identities" (i.e., race þ gender þ sexual orientation) in interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics-sometimes termed weak intersectionality (Steinfield et al, 2019).…”

Intersectionality in psychology: Translational science for social justice.

“…Barely legible to most psychologists only 15 years ago, intersectionality has moved from the margins to the mainstream of psychological research on inequalities. Psychologists’ enthusiasm for intersectionality is evidenced by widely cited papers (Bowleg, 2008; Cole, 2009), special issues and collections (Parent et al, 2013; Santos & Toomey, 2018; Shields, 2008), forums and special sections (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2016; Grzanka et al, 2017), and the appearance of intersectional discourse across the discipline (Moradi et al, 2020)—not just in feminist and multicultural psychology. And while guidelines for best practices (Lewis & Grzanka, 2016; Warner, 2008) and responsible implementation of intersectionality research (Cole, 2009; Moradi & Grzanka, 2017) have circulated since intersectionality became a buzzword in psychology (Grzanka, 2020), extensive debates about proper usage of intersectional approaches persist (e.g., Else-Quest & Hyde, 2016; Syed, 2010).…”

“…Similarly, Collins (1990/2000, 2019) has consistently positioned intersectionality as a critical social theory—a framework for understanding injustice and promoting social justice—rather than a politically agnostic scientific or testable theory. Although one can trace a conceptual line from these early texts to enthusiastic uptake of intersectionality in psychology during the first decade of the 20th century (Moradi et al, 2020), it is likewise important to note that feminist and multicultural psychologists have been engaging intersectional themes and drawing on women of color feminisms to do so for generations (Grzanka, 2018). Path-breaking psychologists, including Oliva Espín (1993); Aída Hurtado (1989), and Michelle Fine (1992), for example, have been advancing intersectional ideas (e.g., standpoint) and methods (e.g., critical participatory action research) for decades and have inspired new generations of scholars who are imagining novel ways to harness psychological science as a tool for collective liberation and social justice.…”