Intersectional Feminism and Social Work Responses to Homelessness

Abstract

In this chapter, I reflect on the complexities of intersectionality when researching social work responses to homelessness. I argue that social work responses to homelessness are influenced by gendered, white, Western, and middle-class discourses, which are embodied and performed by social workers in their professional practice. As a white, Western, middle-class social work educator and practitioner, I continually question how my gender, class, and whiteness shape my worldview, grant me particular privileges, and inform my own professional social work practice in the area of homelessness (Zufferey, 2012). These questions contribute to my interest in researching how homelessness and social work responses to homelessness are constituted by gender, race, class, and power relations. An intersectional feminist approach is a useful lens for examining the complex and intersecting power dynamics in social workers’ responses to homelessness. However, the “doing” of intersectional feminist research in the Australian context is complicated and contested.