Research Guides: FYS 101: Intersectional Self

What is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality (or intersectional theory) is a term first coined in 1989 by American civil rights advocate and leading scholar of critical race theory, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw.

It is the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities and related systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination. The theory suggests that—and seeks to examine how—various biological, social and cultural categories such as gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, religion, caste, age, nationality and other sectarian axes of identity interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels.

In other words, intersectional theory asserts that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers. Intersectionality recognizes that identity markers (e.g. “woman” and “black”) do not exist independently of each other, and that each informs the others, often creating a complex convergence of oppression (Leigh Chandler)

Source: Misty McPhetridge, BSSW

Intersectionality Resources: Books

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis; Frank Barat (Editor); Cornel West (Preface by)
ISBN: 9781608465644
Publication Date: 2016-02-09
In these collected essays, interviews, and speeches, Angela Y. Davis illuminates the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world. Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today's struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles.
Intersectionality by Anna Carastathis
ISBN: 0803296622
Publication Date: 2016-11-01
Challenging the narratives of arrival that surround it, Carastathis argues that intersectionality is a horizon, illuminating ways of thinking that have yet to be realized; consequently, calls to "go beyond" intersectionality are premature. Through a close reading of critical race theorist Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw's germinal texts, Carastathis urges analytic clarity, contextual rigor, and a historicized understanding of this widely traveling concept.
This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins
ISBN: 9780062666154
Publication Date: 2018-01-30
Morgan Jerkins' highly-anticipated collection of linked essays interweaves her incisive commentary on pop culture, feminism, black history, misogyny, and racism with her own experiences to confront the very real challenges of being a black woman today. She takes on perhaps one of the most provocative contemporary topics: What does it mean to "be" - to live as, to exist as - a black woman today? This is a book about black women, but it's necessary reading for all Americans.
Daring to Be Bad by Alice Echols
ISBN: 9780816617869
Publication Date: 1989-12-01
An award-winning and canonical history of radical feminism, whose activist heat and intellectual audacity powered second-wave feminism--30th anniversary edition This thirtieth anniversary edition reveals how current debates about race, transgender rights, queer theory, and sexuality echo issues that galvanized and divided feminists fifty years ago.
Facilitating Change Through Intergroup Dialogue by Kristie Ford (Editor)
ISBN: 9781315302218
Publication Date: 2017-06-26
In order both to prepare for an increasingly diverse society and to help students navigate diverse learning environments, many institutions of higher education have developed programs that support student learning and competencies around inter- and intra-group relations. Facilitating Change through Intergroup Dialogue: Social Justice Advocacy in Practice traces the impact of Intergroup Dialogue (IGD) courses on peer-facilitators who delivered Skidmore College's IGD curricula over a five-year period. Through a series of in-depth qualitative interviews and auto-ethnographies, this book explores how former IGD facilitators are applying what they learned to their personal and professional lives three to five years post-college. By exploring facilitators' application of IGD skills, understanding of social justice, and the challenges inherent in this work, Facilitating Change through Intergroup Dialogue offers concrete strategies for supporting undergraduate students in their enduring efforts towards justice.

Intersectionality Resources: Podcasts

Intersectionality Matters!
Intersectionality Matters! is a podcast hosted by Kimberlé Crenshaw, an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar of critical race theory.
Code Switch
What's Code Switch? It's the fearless conversations about race that you've been waiting for! Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race head-on. We explore how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and everything in between. This podcast makes ALL OF US part of the conversation — because we're all part of the story.
Intersectionality and Allyship
Host Minda Harts chats with Natalie Gillard about intersectional feminism, allyship #bbmreads, FACTUALITY, entrepreneurship... and how to secure the bag/seat when getting a glimpse of the table is not even an option.

Intersectionality Resources: Videos

Intersectionality Resources: Articles

The Complexity of Intersectionality- Leslie McCall
The basic concept of intersectional feminism stemmed from the idea that first and second wave feminism was designed to only benefit a specific group of women, specifically straight, white, middle-class women. Intersectionality became a cornerstone of third wave feminism, in an effort to be more inclusive of women of color and queer women. The understanding is that all women are affected by sexism, but race and sexuality play a major role in what kind of sexism is targeted at someone. McCall's article offers a much more in-depth look than this short summary.
Mapping the Margins- Kimberlé Crenshaw
Crenshaw explores the simultaneously raced and gendered dimensions of violence against women of color to draw attention to the way the specificity of black women’s experiences of violence is ignored, overlooked, misrepresented, and/or silenced. Crenshaw focuses on both the structural and political aspects of intersectionality with regards to rape and domestic abuse and uses this analysis of violence against women of color to highlight the importance of intersectionality and of engaging with issues like violence against women through an intersectional lens.
Ain't I a Woman? Revisiting intersectionality- Avtar Brah and Ann Phoenix
This paper revisits debates on intersectionality in order to show that they can shed new light on how we might approach some current issues. It first discusses the 19th century contestations among feminists involved in anti-slavery struggles and campaigns for women’s suffrage. The second part of the paper uses autobiography and empirical studies to demonstrate that social class (and its intersections with gender and ‘race’ or sexuality) are simultaneously subjective, structural and about social positioning and everyday practices.
Why Our Feminism Must Be Intersectional (And 3 Ways to Practice It)- Jarune Uwujaren and Jaime Utt
This article discusses the definition of intersectionality, understanding intersectionality in context, and illustrates a truly inclusive feminism. It goes on to provide three ways to incorporate an intersectional ethic into our daily practice of feminism.
Why Intersectionality Can’t Wait- Kimberlé Crenshaw
Kimberle Crenshaw stresses the urgency of understanding intersectionality. The term intersectionality was coined by Crenshaw as a young law professor to show how race and gender discrimination intersected, especially in relation to Black women. Her main argument is that if Black women and girls continue to be made invisible within the framework then the purpose of intersectionality has been lost.
At the Crossroads of Intersectional Feminism- Elizabeth Morehead and Margaret Hennessy
This short article by New America discusses intersectional feminism by defining what it is as well as what it isn't.
The Intersectionality Wars
When Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term 30 years ago, it was a relatively obscure legal concept. Then it went viral.
A Black Feminist Statement: The Combahee River Collective
As black women we see black feminism as the logical political movement to combat the manifold and simultaneous oppressions that all women of color face. Here, four major topics are discussed. These are: (1) The genesis of contemporary black feminism; (2) what we believe, i.e., the specific province of our politics; (3) the problems in organizing black feminists, including a brief herstory of our collective; and (4) black feminist issues and practice.

Intersectionality Resources: Databases

Diversity Studies
Journals and magazines covering anthropology, gender studies, sociology, and women’s studies. Provided by NOVELNY.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Newspapers, magazines, and journals that focus on ethnic studies, indigenous peoples, and the presses from a diverse range of multi-racial, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural perspectives; included in the TDM Studio text visualization dashboard; please see the ProQuest TDM Studio guide for access information.
Gender Studies
Journals and magazines on gender studies, sexual behavior, family and marital issues, LGBTQ rights, and health. Provided by NOVELNY.