Resistance within intersectionality theory.
Safaa July 6th, 2007
In this blog i would like to talk about resistance within the view of power as intersectional. In the intersectional view of power, the different power structures presume one another and strengthen each other. They collaborate in a sense. So when talking about racism, we must also talk about sexism, class structure, heteronormative power structure and so on. Resistance towards the patriarchal structure that creates sexism is usually known as feminism. Resistance towards racist structures is usually categorised as anti-racism and so forth. But just by talking about one type of power structure, would be to separate it from a discussion of another power structure.
So what is resistance towards intersectional power structures? How is it performed and what is it called? This blog is very much based on my ignorance of intersectional power theory. I have quickly googled on the subject of resistance within intersectioanl theory, and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality_theory#Resisting_Oppression
But as this is â€onlyâ€a blog entry, I haven’t had the opportunity to thoroughly look up earlier research about it. This is more a thought I had. Anyone who knows more that could enlighten me and others like me?
I know at least that there should be a term for resistance towards intersectional power structures. Within queer pedagogy, it is important that when we talk about norms, we do not use â€add upâ€-thinking. Add up thinking means that you add up the norms or that which diverge from the norms. If I am a black, working class woman in Sweden (we could also narrow Sweden down to city or rural), it is not double or triple or multiplied oppression, but a special kind of oppression that I am at risk of. Also if I was a male, homosexual, working class person, it becomes a special kind of position I get within the intersectional structure. Also, even if we could be more privileged in one power structure, we could be discriminated in another.
So how do social movements handle intersectional power structures today? It is common to think within one specific movement that all kind of anti-hierarchical work is good. And many activists are involved in different movements. But what are the problems that a movement faces when prioritising one cause over another, and separating power structures and thus resistance into feminism, class, queer, environmental, peace struggle and so on. How would it look like if it was one and the same resistance? And who are the actors then?
- Academia , Resistance
- Comments(1)
I very much like your challenge, this is really a difficult question. I have too long in my own research been trying to find universal rules/methods/principles for resistance. But in an intersectional perspective you need to look into the specific context, what kind of power relations (of different kind) that is resisted. That, first of all, means that resistance in a universal or general way does not exist, at least not as something unitary. Resistance will always be resistance to a specific kind of intersection of powerS! And, if fundamentally, power is about domination/subordination, then intersectional resistance, to my understanding, must be contextualised resistance to all forms of domination at that very site and time in history. It must be a resistance that is against all forms of power and it must be specific according to the context in which it is done. But, this, I know, is very basic thoughts, the real problem is of course, what this means in practice, in real contexts…Let us do research and try to find that out!