"Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how a person's various social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege."
Considers how intersectionality operates across diverse cultures and geographies, examining the ways in which global inequalities intersect with each other to shape diverse experiences of oppression and resistance.
Intersectionality Theory: Understanding the concept of intersectionality, its history, and the scholars who have contributed to its development. Intersectionality involves the interaction and interplay of different social categories like gender, sexuality, race, class, and ability that determine the experiences of individuals and communities across the world.
Global Feminism: Exploring the various feminist theories and movements across different regions and cultures of the world. Global feminism studies how women's experiences differ based on their geographic location, social status, race, and cultural background, and how feminist movements can address these differences.
Postcolonialism: Analyzing the impact of the colonial period on societies and cultures and the ongoing legacies of colonialism in contemporary times. Postcolonial theory also examines how intersectionality plays a role in the unequal power structures of postcolonial societies.
Critical Race Theory: Understanding the social construct of race and its impact on the experiences of people of color globally. Critical race theory analyzes the intersections of race and other social categories, including their role in discrimination, economic inequality, and social disadvantage.
Transnationalism: Exploring the interconnectedness of societies and cultures across borders and the impact of globalization and migration on intersectional experiences. Transnationalism also considers how individuals and groups navigate their identities and cultural practices in multicultural contexts.
Global Queer Studies: Examining the intersections of sexual orientation and gender identity with other social categories and the challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community in different parts of the world. Global queer studies also look at the various representations of queerness in media and culture.
Environmental Justice: Understanding the intersections of environmental issues and social categories such as race, class, and disability. Environmental justice also addresses how marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation and climate change.
Disability Studies: Analyzing the experiences of individuals with disabilities and how their intersectionality with other social categories such as race, gender, and class affects their lives. Disability studies also examines the social and cultural constructions of disability and the barriers faced by disabled individuals.
Indigenous Studies: Understanding the experiences and cultural practices of indigenous communities worldwide and the impacts of colonization and ongoing marginalization on their societies. Indigenous studies also examines the intersectionality of indigenous identity with other social categories.
Global Health: Analyzing how intersectionality plays a role in access to healthcare, the distribution of disease, and the social determinants of health around the world. Global health also considers how cultural practices and social norms relate to health outcomes.
Race and Ethnicity: This refers to the ways in which race/ethnicity intersect with other identities such as gender, sexuality, class, and religion to shape one's experiences of marginalization and/or privilege.
Nationality and Citizenship: This refers to how legal status, such as being a permanent resident or citizen of a particular country, intersects with other identities to affect access to resources, mobility, and protection from harm.
Language and Linguistic Diversity: This refers to how one's language(s) of origin, fluency, and proficiency intersect with other identities to affect communication, education, employment, and cultural expressions.
Globalization and Migration: This refers to how economic and political forces, as well as personal choices, shape mobility patterns and affect the experiences of migrant and diasporic communities based on their intersecting identities.
Ableism and Disability: This refers to how physical, sensory, and cognitive differences intersect with other identities to shape access to healthcare, education, employment, and societal inclusion.
Religion and Spirituality: This refers to how one's religious or spiritual identity intersects with other identities to affect access to resources, social relations, and cultural expressions.
Age and Generational Differences: This refers to how one's age and/or generation intersect with other identities to shape access to resources, social relations, and cultural expressions.
"Examples of these factors include gender, caste, sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion, disability, weight, and physical appearance."
"These intersecting and overlapping social identities may be both empowering and oppressing."
"Intersectional feminism aims to separate itself from white feminism by acknowledging women's differing experiences and identities."
"The term intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989."
"Intersectionality opposes analytical systems that treat each axis of oppression in isolation."
"In this framework, for instance, discrimination against black women cannot be explained as a simple combination of misogyny and racism, but as something more complicated."
"Intersectionality engages in similar themes as triple oppression, which is the oppression associated with being a poor or immigrant woman of color."
"Criticism includes the framework's tendency to reduce individuals to specific demographic factors, and its use as an ideological tool against other feminist theories."
"Critics have characterized the framework as ambiguous and lacking defined goals."
"As it is based in standpoint theory, critics say the focus on subjective experiences can lead to contradictions and the inability to identify common causes of oppression."
"However, little good-quality quantitative research has been done to support or undermine the theory of intersectionality."
"An analysis of academic articles published through December 2019 found that there are no widely adopted quantitative methods to investigate research questions informed by intersectionality."
"The analysis ... provided recommendations on analytic best practices for future research."
"An analysis of academic articles published through May 2020 found that intersectionality is frequently misunderstood when bridging theory into quantitative methodology."
"In 2022, a quantitative approach to intersectionality was proposed based on information theory, specifically synergistic information."
"In this framing, intersectionality is identified with the information about some outcome (e.g. income, etc.) that can only be learned when multiple identities (e.g. race and sex) are known together."
"Intersectionality is identified with the information about some outcome [...] that can [...] not [be] extractable from analysis of the individual identities considered separately."
"Critics [argue] the inability to identify common causes of oppression."
"Intersectionality broadens the scope of the first and second waves of feminism, [...] to include the different experiences of women of color, poor women, immigrant women, and other groups."