Introduction: intersectionality and transforming the production of knowledge

Abstract

Held as a means of transforming the production of knowledge, questions surrounding what intersectional methods are and how to do intersectional research methods remains fluid and innovative. The only strong consensus among intersectional researchers, is that an additive or multiple approach that keep multiple axes separate and adds the effects together violates the tenets of intersectionality. Intersectional research for some requires an intersectional framework for designing a study and for others, using intersectional research as a tool of analysis is the focus. Twenty-eight chapters are presented in this Handbook to provide an overview of the diverse disciplines, research topics, qualitative and quantitative approaches, and examples of combining intersectionality research with other critical practices, such as community-based participator research (CBPR), settler-colonialism. Contributors address the challenges in doing intersectional research and identity differences from traditional research methodologies. The Handbook begins with a foundation section that present scholarly traditions using intersectional-type methods for social justice that were largely erased from the cannon of various disciplines.