WOS 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Intersectionality, Mass Incarceration
8 Sep 2016
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A theory or tool used to explain and challenge systems of oppression. It argues our identities (race, class, gender, sexuality, physical ability, nationality, etc. ) are all interconnected; cannot be understood separately. You cannot understand a person or institution simply by looking at, say, race or gender, but you must look at both together. You must look at them together, where they intersect. You cannot look at one identity and address it, then look at another identity and address it, and then combine the results. You must look at how they work together. Not simply for understanding oppressed peoples, but systems of oppressions. Many people use, i think incorrectly, intersectionality to look only at oppressed peoples, but we can use the theory to explain privilege as well, because we are thinking about privilege and oppression within binary systems. Things you might find on, say, a census survey or such. All uses of intersectionality must include at least race and gender.
