Concept and origins
Crenshaw (1989) criticised US courts for treating Black women's discrimination claims as either sex or race discrimination, missing harms arising from both together, and compared this to an accident at a traffic intersection. Crenshaw (1991) distinguished structural intersectionality from political intersectionality, where movements and policies overlook it. The idea grew out of Black feminist thought and feminist theory.
Key concepts
Collins (1990) called interlocking systems of race, gender and class a 'matrix of domination'. Hancock (2007) stressed that disadvantages do not simply add up but interact multiplicatively. The feminization of poverty, for example, reflects race and class as well as gender, linking to work on social exclusion.
Methods and critiques
McCall (2005) distinguished anticategorical, intracategorical and intercategorical approaches. Cho, Crenshaw and McCall (2013) traced its spread across disciplines. Collins (2015) noted that wide use has blurred its definition, and critics point to proliferating categories and measurement difficulties.
FAQ
- What is intersectionality in simple terms?
- When identities such as gender, race and class overlap, they can create discrimination you cannot see by looking at one alone.
- Who coined intersectionality?
- US legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, in 1989, writing about discrimination against Black women.
Sources reviewed: 2026-10-26
References
- Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139–167. The article that coined intersectionality.
- Collins, P. H. (1990). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. Unwin Hyman. Introduces the 'matrix of domination'.
- Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. Distinguishes structural and political intersectionality.
- McCall, L. (2005). The complexity of intersectionality. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 30(3), 1771–1800. Outlines three methodological approaches.
- Hancock, A.-M. (2007). When multiplication doesn't equal quick addition: Examining intersectionality as a research paradigm. Perspectives on Politics, 5(1), 63–79. Presents intersectionality as a research paradigm in political science.
- Cho, S., Crenshaw, K. W., & McCall, L. (2013). Toward a field of intersectionality studies: Theory, applications, and praxis. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 38(4), 785–810. Maps intersectionality studies as a field.
- Collins, P. H. (2015). Intersectionality's definitional dilemmas. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 1–20. Reviews debates over defining intersectionality.