Rediscovering the Potential of Feminist Theories of Intersectionality

Citation:

Nath, Nisha. 2009. “Rediscovering the Potential of Feminist Theories of Intersectionality.” Paper presented at Canadian Political Science Association's Women's Caucus Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario, January 28.

Author: Nisha Nath

Abstract:

This article contributes to the growing debate on intersectionality by proposing a theoretical framing which attends to different levels of analysis in terms of what is being referred to (social categories or concrete social relations); societal arenas of investigation; and historicity (processes and outcomes). It discusses questions of social ontology, categories, groupings and more concrete social relations relating to boundaries and hierarchies in social life. The article presents a particular analytical sensitivity which attends to the dialogical nature of social relations, the centrality of power and social hierarchy, and the importance of locating these within spatial and temporal contexts.

Keywords: class, ethnicity, gender, intersectionality, levels of analysis

Topics: Class, Ethnicity, Feminisms, Gender

Year: 2009