This Word is (Not?) Very Exciting: Considering Intersectionality in Indigenous Studies

Abstract

Gender and intersectional approaches can provide important insights and reflections for indigenous studies. Issues related to indigenous people and communities are broad and complex. Doing research within indigenous studies has to consist of more than simply discussing indigenous identity. I argue that intersectional approaches of varying kinds provide an opportunity to understand several aspects of identity and a diverse set of issues relevant to indigenous communities. Using intersectional approaches enables one to maintain a critical focus on power. In this article, I describe indigenous studies and intersectionality separately, then move on to a discussion of how intersectionality and gender perspectives can be used within indigenous studies. The starting point for intersectional approaches as well as for indigenous studies is the margins rather than the centre. The focus of the article is on methodology, which is based on the reading of literature from indigenous methodologies, gender studies and intersectionality. A key concept is the cultural interface, which points towards the existence of plural subject positions both for individuals and within a community.

Young Sámi men on the move: actors, activities, and aims for the future

“…By the term "losing themselves," we understood as losing their saminess, their sense of belonging, or their life-prospects. We interpret this being experiences of powerlessness as demonstrated in the theory of intersectionality (Olsen, 2018b). When they reflected upon the one young Sámi men that did not succeed in the transition, we interpret their reflection as stories of young men who were about to lose themselves.…”

Indigenous journalism, media innovation, and social change: A review of previous research and call for more critical approaches

“…Indigenous research requires reflexive engagement with how the relative power of researchers influence representations of Indigenous people and knowledge (see Bull, 2002). Research influences the construction of knowledge in ways that have real consequences for the lives of Indigenous people -in particular, with regard to their representation in the public sphere (Olsen, 2018;Smith, 1999). As a team of three researchers, two of us represent members of and close relations to Indigenous, and one to minority, communities.…”

“…We consider our diverse backgrounds and experiences a strength, because they have ensured that we have taken a sensitive and reflexive approach which has underpinned the analytical focus of our collaboration. As Olsen (2018) argues, neither privilege/oppression, Indigenous/non-Indigenous, nor insider/outsider refer to binary relations, but to potential positions on relative scales. As a team of three co-authors, we reflected both individually and together on the multiplicity of positions we had with regards to our own and each other's backgrounds, and the potential consequences for how we approached our analysis.…”

A Critique of Our Own? On Intersectionality and “Epistemic Habits” in a Study of Racialization and Homonationalism in a Nordic Context

“…But the concept was also introduced as way to deal with and manage the tensions and anxiety that the criticism caused (Carbin & Edenheim, 2013, p. 244), which in itself can be seen as a habitual response of white feminisms in the face of accusations of racism. The concept has since been established in Nordic feminist research, not only for analysing how "class, race and gender" intersect, but recently also developed in relation to feminist pedagogy and indigenous studies, and feminist new materialisms, taking intersectionality into concerns beyond anthropocentrism (Laukkanen, Miettinen, Elonheimo, Ojala, & Saresma, 2018;Olsen, 2018;Tiainen, Leppänen, Kontturi, & Mehrabi, 2020).…”