A moment of clarity about intersectionality
Repost from May 24, 2024
This week, I was reminded about the significance of intersectionality, a framework, theory, pedagogy, analytic tool, lens, and lifestyle that recognizes the interlocking nature of social identities and their subsequent impact on an individual's experiences with systems of oppression. I was first introduced to this construct as a master's student learning about root causes of educational inequities and foundational theories that influenced critical race theory in legal studies, education, and Black feminist studies. Since then, I've become more familiar, comfortable, and confident with applying an intersectional lens to my understanding of human development and my theorization of internalized oppression among Students of Color and especially, Kanaka ʻŌiwi youth. I've also become more cognizant of how scholars have misused and appropriated intersectionality, and to some extent, rendered it a metaphor similarly to decolonization, as Tuck and Yang (2012) argue.
I've learned of attacks on intersectionality because of its association with CRT and more recently, experienced opposition and indifference to its holistic understanding of individuals by employees of an Indigenous-serving organization. This absolutely blows my mind. Yet, as a CRT scholar, I'm told that this response is predictable. Expected, really, and especially by those in positions of power. Academic fields continue to push back against intersectionality as a credible epistemological lens, not because of its scholarly merit, but because it represents a threat to epistemic hegemony.
Intersectionality presents a transformational reality to our current one, which is dominated by western, colonial ideologies that believe in binary identities and monolithic categories. It is rooted in naming and identifying the multiple, liminal, and dynamic ways that we exist and process information. It liberates us from reducing our stories and histories to fit societal definitions and political scripts of what it means to be a woman, to be a mother, to be a daughter, to be Indigenous. It is a step toward freedom at individual and institutional levels.
I experienced a moment of clarity over what intersectionality is and what it still has to offer those who have years of experience in academic or educational spaces, critical or not. I'm reminded that intersectionality, like CRT, is not played out. There are still policies and practices in place that fail to consider the impact of intersectional identities like the numerous ways in which a queer, Indigenous man's perceptions of and experiences in school is similar to yet different from those of a heterosexual, multiracial, nonbinary individual. While it may take time for institutions to learn about and apply intersectionality in their work, we must also remember that institutions are made up of individuals. Individuals who have the ability to learn and grow. Indeed, institutions may be slow to change, but that doesn't mean we, as individuals, have to be.
Intersectionality has already transformed, radicalized, and liberated countless individuals. But it is not enough. We are still in the minority. Intersectionality is an important contribution to the work that critical scholars, community activists, and practitioners do to honor their full selves and those of their students. We should not avoid learning about it simply because it takes time to engage with literature or conceptualize how intersectionality can be applied in programs. We can do better. In all honesty, we must. Rising generations will not cease in their activism or their critically conscious worldviews. They won't wait for us to "get with the program." Will we respond so we can truly support them? Or will we continue to align ourselves with colonial ideologies?
Relevant reading
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039
Settles, I. H., Warner, L. R., Buchanan, N. T., & Jones, M. K. (2020). Understanding psychology’s resistance to intersectionality theory using a framework of epistemic exclusion and invisibility. Journal of Social Issues, 76(4), 796–813. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12403
Collins, P. H. (1998). It’s all in the family: Intersections of gender, race, and nation. Hypatia, 13(3), 62–82. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.1998.tb01370.x
Harris, J. C., & Patton, L. D. (2019). Un/doing intersectionality through higher education research. The Journal of Higher Education, 90(3), 347–372. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1536936
Senyonga, M. (2018). Intersectionality: A genealogy of Black feminist freedom visioning (13; Center for Critical Race Studies at UCLA Research Briefs, pp. 1–4). University of California, Los Angeles.
Nash, J. C. (2019). Black feminism reimagined: After intersectionality. Duke University Press.
References
Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1–40.
