A major publishing event, the collected writings of the groundbreaking scholar who "first coined intersectionality as a political framework" (Salon) For more than twenty years, scholars, activists, educators, and lawyers--inside and outside of the United States--have employed the concept of intersectionality both to describe problems of inequality and to fashion concrete solutions. In particular, as the Washington Post reported recently, "the term has been used by social activists as both a rallying cry for more expansive progressive movements and a chastisement for their limitations." Drawing on black feminist and critical legal theory, Kimberlé Crenshaw developed the concept of intersectionality, a term she coined to speak to the multiple social forces, social identities, and ideological instruments through which power and disadvantage are expressed and legitimized. In this comprehensive and accessible introduction to Crenshaw's work, readers will find key essays and articles that have defined the concept of intersectionality, collected together for the first time. The book includes a sweeping new introduction by Crenshaw as well as prefaces that contextualize each of the chapters. For anyone interested in movement politics and advocacy, or in racial justice and gender equity, On Intersectionality will be compulsory reading from one of the most brilliant theorists of our time.

The concept of intersectionality has become a hot topic in academic and activist circles alike. But what exactly does it mean, and why has it emerged as such a vital lens through which to explore how social inequalities of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability and ethnicity shape one another? In this new book Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge provide a much-needed, introduction to the field of intersectional knowledge and praxis. They analyze the emergence, growth and contours of the concept and show how intersectional frameworks speak to topics as diverse as human rights, neoliberalism, identity politics, immigration, hip hop, global social protest, diversity, digital media, Black feminism in Brazil, violence and World Cup soccer. Accessibly written and drawing on a plethora of lively examples to illustrate its arguments, the book highlights intersectionality's potential for understanding inequality and bringing about social justice oriented change. Intersectionality will be an invaluable resource for anyone grappling with the main ideas, debates and new directions in this field.

In Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory Patricia Hill Collins offers a set of analytical tools for those wishing to develop intersectionality's capability to theorize social inequality in ways that would facilitate social change. While intersectionality helps shed light on contemporary social issues, Collins notes that it has yet to reach its full potential as a critical social theory. She contends that for intersectionality to fully realize its power, its practitioners must critically reflect on its assumptions, epistemologies, and methods. She places intersectionality in dialog with several theoretical traditions—from the Frankfurt school to black feminist thought—to sharpen its definition and foreground its singular critical purchase, thereby providing a capacious interrogation into intersectionality's potential to reshape the world.

Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader is an accessible, primary-source driven exploration of intersectionality in sociology and related fields. The book maps the origins of the concept, particularly in Black feminist thought and sociology, opens the discourse to challenges and applications across disciplines and outside academia, and explores the leading edges of scholarship to reveal important new directions for inquiry and activism. Charting the development of intersectionality as an intellectual and political movement, Patrick R. Grzanka brings together in one text both foundational readings and emerging classics. Original material includes: Grzanka's nuanced introduction which provides broad context and poses guiding questions; thematic unit introductions; author biographies and suggestions for further reading to ground each excerpt; and a conclusion by Bonnie Thornton Dill reflecting on the past, present, and future of intersectionality. With its balanced mix of analytical, applied, and original content, Intersectionality is an essential component of any course on race, class, and gender, feminist theory, or social inequalities.

The most influential writing on the pivotal concept of intersectionality, by the scholar who introduced the term, collected for the first time. Intersectionality has emerged as an influential approach to understanding discrimination and exclusion in our society, whose members can experience bias in multiple ways - as a consequence of race, gender, sexual orientation, or a combination of these. In this first-ever collection of Crenshaw's writing, readers will find the key essays and articles that have defined the concept of intersectionality.

Critical intersectional scholarship enhances researchers’ and scholar-activists’ ability to open novel research frontiers. This forward-thinking Research Handbook demonstrates how to pursue fluid and innovative research approaches, identify differences from traditional methodologies, and overcome the common challenges faced when carrying out intersectional research.

Against the backdrop of the emergence of intersectionality as a dominant paradigm in feminist scholarship and activism, this book explores the genre of metacommentaries as critical responses to the development of intersectionality as a paradigm. With attention to the dispersal of intersectionality into ever-newer contexts – and the missteps and breakdowns that occur during this process – it addresses the concern that intersectionality is transforming into something unrecognisable, drifting too far away from its foundational sources and visions and becoming diluted by its expansion. Examining the process by which metacommentaries engage in a form of corrective storytelling – seeking to rescue intersectionality from misuse by pinning it down and returning it to where it belongs – Interpreting Intersectionality presents a critique of these gestures of correction, arguing that, far from reconnecting intersectionality with its roots and enabling it to realise its potential, such metacommentaries actually bind the scholarly discourse on intersectionality to an either/or argumentative dynamic. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students with an interest in feminist theory, gender studies and/or intersectional analysis.

Grounded in black feminist scholarship and activism and formally coined in 1989 by black legal scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, intersectionality has garnered significant attention in the field of public policy and other disciplines/fields of study. The potential of intersectionality, however, has not been fully realized in policy, largely due to the challenges of operationalization. Recently some scholars and activists began to advance conceptual clarity and guidance for intersectionality policy applications; yet a pressing need remains for knowledge development and exchange in relation to empirical work that demonstrates how intersectionality improves public policy. This handbook fills this void by highlighting the key challenges, possibilities and critiques of intersectionality-informed approaches in public policy. It brings together international scholars across a variety of policy sectors and disciplines to consider the state of intersectionality in policy research and analysis. Importantly, it offers a global perspective on the added value and “how-to” of intersectionality-informed policy approaches that aim to advance equity and social justice.

The concept of intersectionality has become a central topic in academic and activist circles alike. But what exactly does it mean, and why has it emerged as such a vital lens through which to explore how social inequalities of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and ethnicity shape one another? In this fully revised and expanded second edition of their popular text, Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge provide a much-needed introduction to the field of intersectional knowledge and praxis. Analyzing the emergence, growth, and contours of the concept of intersectionality, the authors also consider its global reach through an array of new topics such as the rise of far-right populism, reproductive justice, climate change, and digital environments and cultures. Accessibly written and drawing on a plethora of lively examples to illustrate its arguments, the book highlights intersectionality’s potential for understanding complex architecture of social and economic inequalities and bringing about social justice-oriented change. Intersectionality will be an invaluable resource for anyone grappling with the main ideas, debates, and new directions in this field.