Although the topics and methods of intersectionality have been noted in the USA by women of color since as far back as the mid-19th Century, Crenshaw, in the first use of the term “intersectonality, drew attention to the inherent failure of the legal system to provide just responses to case brought forth by Black women exposed to violence and employment discrimination. Laws focused only on race or only on gender did not capture the more nuanced experiences of and consequences for Black women. Collins and Bilge (2016) propose four domains of power: interpersonal, cultural, disciplinary and structural. Some have added intrapersonal, and Crenshaw discussed structural, representational, political and temporal. The term “political” was influenced by Crenshaw’s focus on the legal system, but we hope to expand this by focusing on many other systems as well.
Over time, intersectionality has become a powerful conceptual and analytical tool and paradigm, not only within academic arenas but also in public discourse and activism, engendering rich debates in many disciplines, fields, and global contexts. There are disagreements about what the “proper” focus of intersectionality should be. Should it maintain the foci of its origins (e.g., focused heavily on race, gender, and class) or expanded to other positionalities, and what epistemologies and methodologies are appropriate for different questions and purposes? Many are concerned about movement away from systematically working to understand and challenge systems of power within pro-justice framework to a focus primarily on identities, or simple interactions among several status characteristics.
The partial list of resources below provide more information about all these issues. They are divided into four clusters.
Alexander-Floyd N. G. (2012) Disappearing acts: reclaiming intersectionality in the social sciences in a post-black feminist era. Fem. Formations 24:1–25
Cho S, Crenshaw K, McCall L. 2013. Toward a field of intersectionality studies: theory, applications, and praxis. Signs 38:785–810
Collins, P.H & Bilge, S. (2016). Intersectionality. Malden, MA: Polity Press.
Collins, P. H. (2015) Intersecionality’s Definitional Dilemmas, Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 1-20.
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241-1299.
Crenshaw, K. (2015, September 24). Why intersectionality can’t wait. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-theory/wp/2015/09/24/why-intersectionality-cant-wait/.
Dill, B. T, & Kohlman, M. H. (2014). Intersectionality: a transformative paradigm in feminist theory and social justice. In. Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis (pp. 154-174). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Grzanka, P. R. (2014). Intersectionality: A foundations and frontiers reader. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press.
Hancock, Ange-Marie (2013) Empirical Intersectionality: A tale of two approaches, UCIrvine Law Review, 3:259, 259-296.
May, Vivian M. (2015) Pursuing intersectionality: Unsettling dominant imaginaries. Routledge.
Mohanty CT. 2013. Transnational feminist crossings: on neoliberalism and radical critique. Signs 38:967–91
Nash, Jennifer C. (2017) Intersectionality and its discontents, American Quarterly, 49(1), 117-129. (a review)
Nash, Jennifer C (2019) Black Feminism Reimagined: After Intersectionality. Duke University Press.
Walby, S., Armstrong, J., & Strid, S. (2012) Intersectionality: Multiple inequalities in social theory, Sociology, 46(2), 224-240.
Yuval-Davis N. 2006. Intersectionality and feminist politics. Eur. J. Women's Stud. 13:193–210
Agger, B. (2013). Critical Social Theories. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Bowleg L. (2008). When black + lesbian + woman ≠ black lesbian woman: the methodological challenges of qualitative and quantitative intersectionality research. Sex Roles 59:312–25.
Carasthatis, A. 2014. The Concept of Intersectionality in Feminist Theory. Philosophy Compass, 304–314.
Carastathis A. 2013. Identity categories as potential coalitions. Signs 38:941–65
Choo HY, Ferree MM. 2010. Practicing intersectionality in sociological research: a critical analysis of inclusions, interactions, and institutions in the study of inequalities. Sociol. Theory 28:129–49
Cole, E. R. (2008). Coalitions as a model for intersectionality: From practice to theory. Sex Roles, 59, 443-453.
Hancock, Ange-Marie (2007) When multiplication doesn’t equal quick addition: Examining intersectionality as a research paradigm, Perspectives on Politics, 5(1), 63-79.
McCall, L. 2005. The complexity of intersectionality. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30(3), 1771-800.
There are also numerous special issues covering lots of territory—at least two in Signs, the Dubois Review, one in a political science journal, a recent one in Gender and Society focused on disability.
Hulko, W. (2009) The time and context-contingent nature of intersectionality and interlockingoppressions, Affilia, 24, 44-55.
Mattsson, T. (2014). Intersectionality as a Useful Tool: Anti-Oppressive Social Work and Critical Reflection. Affilia, 29(1), 8–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109913510659
Mehrotra, G. (2010). Toward a Continuum of Intersectionality Theorizing for Feminist Social Work Scholarship. Affilia, 25(4), 417–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109910384190
Murphy, Y., Hunt, V., Saijcek, A. M., Norris, A. N., Hamilton, L. (2009) Incorporating
Intersectionality in Social Work Practice, Research, Policy, and Education, NASW Press.
Nayak, S & Robbins, R (2018) Intersectionality in Social Work: Activism and Practice in Context, Routledge.
For additional information on intersectionality and positionality read U-M SSW Ahead Magazine.
Beal, F. (1995 [1970]). Double jeopardy: To be black and female. In B. Guy-Sheftall (Ed.), Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought (pp. 146-155). New York: The New York Press.
Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Trumansburg, New York: The Crossing Press. 1984. ISBN 978-0-89594-141-1. (reissued 2007)
Collins PH. 2000. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge
Combahee-River-Collective (1995 [1977]). A Black Feminist Statement in B. Guy-Sheftall (Ed.) Words on Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought (pp. 232-240). New York: The New Press.
Hull, A. G., Scott, P. B., & Smith, B. (1986). But Some of Us are Brave: All the Women are White, All the Blacks are Men: Black Women’s Studies. New York: Feminist Press.
Lorber, J. (2005) The variety of feminisms and their contributions to gender equality (1-21). Do we need a new feminism? 303-327). Gender Inequality: Feminist Theories and Politics (3rd Ed). Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing.
Moraga, C. L. (1981). This Bridge Called My Back. New York: Kitchen Table Press.
Sandoval C. 2000. Methodology of the Oppressed. Minneapolis: Univ. Minn. Press
Walker, A. (1983). In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose. New York: Harvest Book Harcourt, Inc.