Abstract
Intersectionality is an approach to research that focuses upon mutually constitutive forms of social oppression rather than on single axes of difference. Intersectionality is not only about multiple identities but is about relationality, social context, power relations, complexity, social justice and inequalities. This report reflects upon the use of intersectionality in social geography and emphasizes the complex histories of intersectionality that are often overlooked in geography. I argue for a greater embrace of the contribution of black feminists and some of the earliest work in geography taking an intersectional perspective. I also argue for intersectionality to be used ethically and with care in geography, rather than it being deployed in a way that unwittingly reproduces a white, colonialist, racist and masculinist discipline. I explore possible avenues for future research about intersectionality in social geographies including a focus upon residential segregation, transnational migration and embodiment.
Highlights
Intersectionality is the focus of my first progress report on social geography
I emphasize three key points in this report: first, intersectionality emerged from activist and academic black feminism; second, this first point is often omitted from work in geography, which leads to the reproduction of our discipline as white, racist and colonialist; third, some of the earliest work in geography that adopts an approach informed by intersectional thinking tends to be overlooked in much social geography research about intersectionality
There are a whole host of knowledges, theories and approaches that geography could bring to bear on the issue of social context and relationality in intersectionality
Summary
Intersectionality is the focus of my first progress report on social geography. Geographers have not been as attentive to the contested histories of intersectionality as they should have been; greater care is needed not to invisibilize the contributions of black and anti-racist feminist academics and activists who have been so crucial to shaping the field of intersectionality I emphasize three key points in this report: first, intersectionality emerged from activist and academic black feminism; second, this first point is often omitted from work in geography, which leads to the reproduction of our discipline as white, racist and colonialist; third, some of the earliest work in geography that adopts an approach informed by intersectional thinking tends to be overlooked in much social geography research about intersectionality. Geography could usefully adopt a more sensitive interdisciplinary approach to intersectionality that acknowledges more clearly the role of black feminism in its development
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