Doing justice to intersectionality in research

Loading...
Thumbnail Image

Date

2019-02-15

Authors

Rice, Carla
Harrison, Elisabeth
Friedman, May

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Sage Journals

Abstract

Intersectionality involves the study of the ways that race, gender, disability, sexuality, class, age, and other social categories are mutually shaped and interrelated through forces such as colonialism, neoliberalism, geopolitics, and cultural configurations to produce shifting relations of power and oppression. The concept does not always offer a clear set of tools for conducting social research. Instead, it offers varied strands of thought, pointing to different methodologies and methods for doing intersectional research. In this article, we trace the genealogy of intersectionality as theory and methodology to identify challenges in translating the concept into research methods, and we review debates about what we identify as three “critical movements” in the intersectionality literature, comprising contestations regarding the theory’s aims, scope, and axioms, in scholarship and research. Finally, we consider how these critical movements can offer researchers some guiding ethical principles for doing intersectionality justice in social research.

Description

Keywords

intersectionality, social justice, methodology, feminist theory, praxis, research ethics

Citation

Rice, C., Harrison, E., & Friedman, M. (2019). Doing justice to intersectionality in research. Cultural Studies <-> Critical Methodologies. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532708619829779

Collections