Hello, I'm Julia Jordan-Zachery, Chair and Professor of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies at Wake Forest University.
I have written extensively on black women and politics, and black women and public policy, and on the general subject of intersectionality.
Today, I offer you a brief take on intersectionality. I start with a genealogy, a very brief genealogy I should add!
Over 30 years ago, Kimberly Crenshaw gave us the term intersectionality. Since then, the term and concept has been taken up across multiple academic disciplines, and is now among public discourse, as seen in tweets where individuals declare that they are, and I quote, "an intersectional feminist".
As this term has increased in popularity, some of the genealogy of it all has been lost. I do not pretend to offer you an exhaustive history of the term. Instead, as I promised, I offer a brief snapshot.
In 1833, Maria Stuart, abolitionist and activist, in an address at the American Masonic Hall, argued that because of her identity, as both black and woman, that she was erased. And so she called to task white individuals and also black men in their treatment of black women.
In 1977, the Combahee River Collective issued a statement that in part read, and I quote:
"The most general statement of our politics at the present time would be that we are actively committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual and class oppression,
and see as our particular task, the development of integrated analysis and practice, based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking.
The Combahee River Collective were among the first to use the term "identity politics", and particularly in relation to what we now refer to as "intersectionality".
Crenshaw, Kimberly Crenshaw, in 1989 gave us the paper, "De-marginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of anti-discrimination doctrine,
feminist theory and anti-racist politics", where she laid out the concept of intersectionality.
In Crenshaw's words, and I quote: "Intersectionality is a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects" (end quote).
Intersectionality, as the three kind of iterations as I offer to you, is about power, the exercise of power, and how those in the margin harness their energy to respond to such power.
And this is captured really beautifully in the Combahee River Collective, where it says it's an analysis and practice. So intersectionality is fundamentally an analysis of power, and a practice of changing power dynamics.
When we use the term intersectionality, we have to be mindful of the following. (And now I want to get in a little bit to talking about how we employ the term intersectionality).
First, we have to define what it is that we're talking about. Very often people use the term 'intersectionality' without offering a comprehensive definition of exactly what they're referring to.
For example, Crenshaw speaks of three forms of intersectionality: structural, political, and representational. Which form are we using when we speak about the impact and implications of power? That is very important.
Two. Intersectionality is about naming a problem, not just for the sake of naming the problem, but so that we can advance social justice.
As you use the term 'intersectionality', ask yourself: "Is this advancing social justice? Or am I simply describing a phenomenon?"
Three. Some people look to intersectionality as a grand theory of everything, but that's not my intention, Crenshaw says. So stop and ask yourself:
"Is intersectionality suitable for my particular project"? It is a possibility that it's not. Four. Have you erased black women and women of color in your use of intersectionality?
Intersectionality is based on a concept developed over many decades for articulating the lived realities of black and indigenous women and other women of color.
Over time, it has morphed, and at times it has become diluted and even misappropriated, as it can be reduced to a 'check the box' for identity categories.
And it has become misrepresented in contemporary identity politics and resulting cultural wars. That is why it is important to know the genealogy of the term.
And so I conclude by stressing the importance of recognizing the genealogy of intersectionality, and the work of black women and women of color, who have engaged in this practice to make themselves visible in a society that often renders them invisible.
These women stress that intersectionality and resulting oppressions are not additive, as they were wholly separate (as IF they are wholly separate) layers of domination.
At times, some deploy the term 'intersectionality' while engaging in an additive approach. Be mindful of not doing such!
Second, for Crenshaw, the context was important for defining and understanding intersectionality.
As you take up intersectionality, it is vital that you clearly define how you are understanding it, and also the context within which it is being employed. I thank you for engaging in this brief overview of the practice of intersectionality.