Re-Thinking Intersectionality

Feminist Review· 2008-06-01· article· 1,995 citationsgreen

Feminist Theory and Gender Studies Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Gender, Health, and Social Inequality

Abstract

Black feminist and legal studies scholar Jennifer C. Nash asks us to think critically about what has become the discourse and theory most commonly connected to feminism: intersectionality. As Nash puts it, intersectionality is now “the primary analytic tool that feminist and anti-racist scholars deploy for theorizing identity and oppression” (2008, 1). Nash outlines the limits to what she describes as the murky theory of intersectionality, including (1) the lack of a defined intersectional methodology (that is, how we do intersectionality); (2) the use of Black women as quintessential intersectional subjects; and (3) the vague definition of intersectionality. While intersectionality often gets deployed to talk about an individual’s race, class, and gender—which is often reduced to identity—Nash says we need to move beyond such understandings so that we can focus on racism, classism, sexism, and other forms of marginalization as interrelated forms of structural oppression.

Cite this

Jennifer Christine Nash (2008). Re-Thinking Intersectionality. Feminist Review. https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.2008.4

@article{christine2008rethinking,
  title  = {Re-Thinking Intersectionality},
  author = {Nash, Jennifer Christine},
  year   = {2008},
  journal = {Feminist Review},
  doi    = {10.1057/fr.2008.4}
}

Citations in this library

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 1,995 citations exist upstream.

References

1991Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color

2018Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics [1989]

2005The Complexity of Intersectionality

1984Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology.

2024Black Feminist Thought

1983Loving in the War Years: Lo que nunca pasó por sus labios

Cited by

2013Toward a Field of Intersectionality Studies: Theory, Applications, and Praxis

2015Intersectionality's Definitional Dilemmas

2013Intersectionality

2021Intersectionality in quantitative research: A systematic review of its emergence and applications of theory and methods

2014The Concept of Intersectionality in Feminist Theory

2012“Once You’ve Blended the Cake, You Can’t Take the Parts Back to the Main Ingredients”: Black Gay and Bisexual Men’s Descriptions and Experiences of Intersectionality

2017Using intersectionality responsibly: Toward critical epistemology, structural analysis, and social justice activism.

2016Incorporating intersectionality into psychology: An opportunity to promote social justice and equity.