Discussion about #intersectionality at event today. Term coined by Prof Kimberle Crenshaw, legal scholar, Black Feminist in 1989. It's a lens through which to study the workings of power, in groups & between groups. It's a method to improve society for ALL by removing barriers...
So if we want to remove barriers in society we need to stop putting barriers up in people's faces. So, ppl in power should go to the ppl who have least, the ppl who are most marginalised- because the reason those ppl are marginalised is because you've put barriers in their faces.
So, method is those ppl on frontlines of social fractures know where society needs fixing urgently; they are harmed by its sharp edges daily. Study power, who it flows to & who it flows over & tries to wash away. What parts of ones identity open doors, & who faces closed doors.
It's not the same thing as equal representation or diversity measures. If you want a representative event you're organising that's not eg dominated by White ppl. That's not an "intersectional panel" that's a representative panel. All of us have many intersecting identities...
Age, health, sickness, disability, caring & parenting, sex, religion or none, ethnic background & heritage. We are all of us all these things, & it changes, flux. Equal Opps approaches teach us that only gay ppl have a sexuality, only Black ppl have an ethnic background etc....
...because powerful identities are unmarked, unscrutinised, assumed to be the norm in contrast to "the other" & power flows to the non-marked identities. This tells us about the workings of power too. Intersectionality sounds a v academic term to some, but I like to think of its
..message being 1 of radical empathy. It's also of course a strong argument for social movements being led by those who are traditionally marginalised, because they experience the fractures daily, which means they know where we can start chipping away first, so we can build anew.
1 nice example would be, if you want to build a nice town centre, get in charge eg parents & carers, ppl who use wheelchairs or scooters, women who've experienced sexual harassment & stalking in the city (pretty much most women) & you will get well lit streets, wide pavements..
..well kept hedges, good signage, NO alleyways, NO filthy underpasses, NO dingy covered walkways over bridges, good transport easy to get on & off for everyone etc etc.
Also, when I said it's about making society better for all, it is in the long run but in the interim those with most concentrated power are going to have to lose some & many of us will have to change & those who benefit most from status quo have least inclination to change it.
So, of course, none of it will happen without a fight; as has ever been thus.
And Crenshaw pointed out the urgency for Social Movements of studying how power works within oppressed groups too, so it doesn't hold those movements back. Like racism in the Women's Liberation Movement or sexism in Black Power movements.
