Emplacing intersectionality: autoethnographic reflections on intersectionality as geographic method

Abstract

The thirtieth anniversary of the publication of Crenshaw’s (1989, 1991) seminal texts presents us with a commemorative moment for the concept of intersectionality and its journey within academia and beyond. I argue in this paper, that intersectionality can be and must be put to more imaginative use in spatio-temporal settings that are far-removed from its moment and place of inception. Through autoethnographic narratives I proposed in this paper, that i) as opposed to claims of overuse and loss of meaning, there remains untapped potential in the concept of intersectionality as a methodological device ii) that this device is particularly well-suited for scholars representing marginalized and minoritized social locations within the global academy and iii) a geographical approach of emplacement can serve to enrich intersectional analysis within feminist geography and beyond. This entails attending to fields of power that are contextual and place-based, and that have not featured commonly in existing intersectionality scholarship.