Intersectionality, Identity, and the Riddle of Class
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Publiée
05-10-2021
Sandro Mezzadra
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5592-824X
Résumé
In this essay I discuss a specific notion that has become particularly influential in framing the discussion of identity and identity politics – intersectionality. I show that the original formulation of that notion was crucially intertwined with debates on class and class politics. After shedding light on the “prehistory” of intersectionality in black feminism, I discuss the original formulations of the concept in the works of Kimberlé Crenshaw and Patricia Hill Collins. A focus on the notion of “oppression” as well as on the tensions between “irreducibility” and “simultaneity” of systems of oppression in intersectional writings leads me to examine some of the pitfalls of identity politics today. An attempt to rethink the notion of class in the light of intersectionality closes the essay.
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References
Ambedkar, B.R. 2016. The Annihilation of Caste. Ed. and annotated by S. Anand, London – New York: Verso.
Bohrer. A.J. 2019. Marxism and Intersectionality. Race, Gender, Class, and Sexuality Under Contemporary Capitalism. Bielefeld: Transcript.
Carasthatis. A. 2016. Intersectionality. Origins, Contestations, Horizons. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press.
Collins. P.H. 2000. Black Feminist Thought. Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, second edition. New York and London: Routledge.
Crenshaw. K. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics.” In University of Chicago Legal Forum 140: 139-167.
Crenshaw. K. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” In Stanford Law Review, 43 (6): 1241-1299.
Davis, A. 2016. Freedom is a Constant Struggle. Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement. Chicago: Haymarket Books.
Gines. K.T. 2014. “Race Women, Race Men and Early Expressions of Proto-Intersectionality.” In Why Race and Gender Still Matter: An Intersectional Approach. Ed. by N. Goswami, M. O’Donovan, and L. Yount. London: Pickering & Chatto: 13–26.
Haider, A. 2018. Mistaken Identity. Race and Class in the Age of Trump. London – New York: Verso.
Hardt, M. and T. Negri. 2019. “Empire, Twenty Years On.” In New Left Review, 120: 67-92.
Jones. C. 1949. An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman! In New Frame, available at https://www.newframe.com/from-the-archive-an-end-to-the-neglect-of-the-problems-of-the-negro-woman/ (accessed April 18, 2021).
Lorde. A. 1982. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. A Biomythography. Berkley, Calif.: The Crossing Press.
Lowe. L. 1996. Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Marx. K. 1976. Capital, Vol. 1. New York: Vintage Books.
Mezzadra, S. 2011. “Bringing Capital Back In: A Materialist Turn in Postcolonial Studies?” In Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 12 (1): 154-164.
Mezzadra, S. 2021. “Challenging Borders. The Legacy of Postcolonial Critique in the Present Conjuncture.” In Soft Power 7 (2): 21-44.
Mezzadra. S. and B. Neilson. 2013. Border as Method, or, the Multiplication of Labor. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Mezzadra. S. and B. Neilson. 2019. The Politics of Operations. Excavating Contemporary Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Nash. J.C. 2019. Black Feminism Reimagined After Intersectionality. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.
Roediger, D. 1991. The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of American Working Class. London – New York: Verso.
Roy, A. 2016. “The Doctor and the Saint.” In B.R. Ambedkar, The Annihilation of Caste, ed. and annotated by S. Anand, London – New York: Verso.
Said, E.W. 1983. “Traveling Theory.” In The World, the Text, and the Critic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press: 226–247.
Said, E.W. 1994, “Traveling Theory Reconsidered”, in Reflections on Exile and Other Essays. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2000: 436-452.
Taylor. K.-Y. 2017. How We Get Free. Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, Chicago: Haymarket Books.
Thompson, D. 2020. “The Intersectional Politics of Black Lives Matter.” In Turbulent Times, Transformational Possibilities? Gender Politics Today and Tomorrow. Ed. by A. Dobrowolsky and F. MacDonald, Toronto: University of Toronto Press: 240-257.
Thompson. L. 1936. Toward a Brighter Dawn. In Viewpoint Magazine (2015), available at https://viewpointmag.com/2015/10/31/toward-a-brighter-dawn-1936/ (accessed April 18, 2021).
Bohrer. A.J. 2019. Marxism and Intersectionality. Race, Gender, Class, and Sexuality Under Contemporary Capitalism. Bielefeld: Transcript.
Carasthatis. A. 2016. Intersectionality. Origins, Contestations, Horizons. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press.
Collins. P.H. 2000. Black Feminist Thought. Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, second edition. New York and London: Routledge.
Crenshaw. K. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics.” In University of Chicago Legal Forum 140: 139-167.
Crenshaw. K. 1991. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” In Stanford Law Review, 43 (6): 1241-1299.
Davis, A. 2016. Freedom is a Constant Struggle. Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement. Chicago: Haymarket Books.
Gines. K.T. 2014. “Race Women, Race Men and Early Expressions of Proto-Intersectionality.” In Why Race and Gender Still Matter: An Intersectional Approach. Ed. by N. Goswami, M. O’Donovan, and L. Yount. London: Pickering & Chatto: 13–26.
Haider, A. 2018. Mistaken Identity. Race and Class in the Age of Trump. London – New York: Verso.
Hardt, M. and T. Negri. 2019. “Empire, Twenty Years On.” In New Left Review, 120: 67-92.
Jones. C. 1949. An End to the Neglect of the Problems of the Negro Woman! In New Frame, available at https://www.newframe.com/from-the-archive-an-end-to-the-neglect-of-the-problems-of-the-negro-woman/ (accessed April 18, 2021).
Lorde. A. 1982. Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. A Biomythography. Berkley, Calif.: The Crossing Press.
Lowe. L. 1996. Immigrant Acts: On Asian American Cultural Politics. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Marx. K. 1976. Capital, Vol. 1. New York: Vintage Books.
Mezzadra, S. 2011. “Bringing Capital Back In: A Materialist Turn in Postcolonial Studies?” In Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 12 (1): 154-164.
Mezzadra, S. 2021. “Challenging Borders. The Legacy of Postcolonial Critique in the Present Conjuncture.” In Soft Power 7 (2): 21-44.
Mezzadra. S. and B. Neilson. 2013. Border as Method, or, the Multiplication of Labor. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Mezzadra. S. and B. Neilson. 2019. The Politics of Operations. Excavating Contemporary Capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Nash. J.C. 2019. Black Feminism Reimagined After Intersectionality. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.
Roediger, D. 1991. The Wages of Whiteness: Race and the Making of American Working Class. London – New York: Verso.
Roy, A. 2016. “The Doctor and the Saint.” In B.R. Ambedkar, The Annihilation of Caste, ed. and annotated by S. Anand, London – New York: Verso.
Said, E.W. 1983. “Traveling Theory.” In The World, the Text, and the Critic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press: 226–247.
Said, E.W. 1994, “Traveling Theory Reconsidered”, in Reflections on Exile and Other Essays. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2000: 436-452.
Taylor. K.-Y. 2017. How We Get Free. Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective, Chicago: Haymarket Books.
Thompson, D. 2020. “The Intersectional Politics of Black Lives Matter.” In Turbulent Times, Transformational Possibilities? Gender Politics Today and Tomorrow. Ed. by A. Dobrowolsky and F. MacDonald, Toronto: University of Toronto Press: 240-257.
Thompson. L. 1936. Toward a Brighter Dawn. In Viewpoint Magazine (2015), available at https://viewpointmag.com/2015/10/31/toward-a-brighter-dawn-1936/ (accessed April 18, 2021).
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