Intersectional Sensibilities and the Spatial Analyses of Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Ellen Churchill Semple

Abstract

Feminist geographies have long provided geographers with methodologies for dislodging hegemonic structures of knowledge production. Recently, feminist geographers have taken up the challenges posed by the theory of intersectionality to analyze questions of place, power, and difference. In this article, we advance this trajectory by arguing for an “intersectional sensibility” in feminist geography methodologies. To illustrate this approach, we elevate the work of investigative journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862–1931), who used qualitative and quantitative data to analyze the nature and severity of anti-Black violence in the United States. We place her work alongside that of Ellen Churchill Semple (1863–1932), a contemporary of Wells-Barnett, who promoted environmental determinism. We argue that Wells-Barnett’s research practices produced geographic knowledge that articulated a standpoint that revealed spatial relationships of power that undergirded oppression; disrupted spatial analyses arising from single-axis thinking; was concerned with ending geographies of violence and injustice; and contributed to unlearning prevailing geographical imaginaries. We offer a methodological intervention grounded in an intersectional sensibility for feminist geography as well as a demonstration of more inclusive disciplinary practices that expand thinking about methods and methodological accountability.

长期以来, 女权主义地理学为地理学家提供了摆脱知识创造中霸权结构的方法。最近, 女权主义地理学家接受了交叉性理论的挑战, 去分析位置、权力和差异等问题。通过讨论女权主义地理学方法中的“交叉敏感性”, 我们旨在推动这方面的研究。为了阐述我们的方法, 本文改进了调查记者Ida B. Wells-Barnett（1862-1931）的工作, 她使用定性和定量数据分析了美国反黑人暴力的性质和严重性。我们将她的研究与Ellen Churchill Semple （1863-1932）的研究进行了对比。Semple是Wells-Barnett的同时代人, 提倡环境决定论。我们认为, Wells-Barnett创造的地理知识, 能够阐明揭示支撑压迫的权力空间关系观点、终止基于单轴思维的空间分析、关注结束暴力和不公正的地理, 并有助于摒弃流行的地理假想。本文提出了基于女权主义地理学交叉敏感性的方法性干预, 展示了能拓展方法论及其可信度研究的更具包容性的学科实践。

Durante mucho tiempo las geografías feministas han suministrado metodologías a los geógrafos para desalojar las estructuras hegemónicas de la producción de conocimiento. Recientemente, las geógrafas feministas han asumido los desafíos que plantea la teoría de la interseccionalidad para examinar cuestiones atinentes a lugar, poder y diferencia. En este artículo, avanzamos en esa trayectoria suscribiendo el reclamo por una “sensibilidad interseccional” en las metodologías de la geografía feminista. Para ilustrar este enfoque, hacemos notar el trabajo de la periodista investigadora Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931), quien usó datos cualitativos y cuantitativos para analizar la naturaleza y gravedad de la violencia contra los negros en los Estados Unidos. Ubicamos su trabajo al lado del de Ellen Churchill Semple (1863-1932), su contemporánea, quien fue promotora del determinismo ambiental. Sostenemos que las prácticas de investigación de Wells-Barnett produjeron un conocimiento geográfico que articuló una visión reveladora de las relaciones espaciales del poder en la que se sustentaba la opresión; desarticulaba los análisis espaciales derivados del pensamiento unilateral; se preocupaba por acabar con las geografías de la violencia y la injusticia; y contribuía a desaprender los imaginarios geográficos imperantes. Ofrecemos una intervención metodológica basada en una sensibilidad interseccional para la geografía feminista, lo mismo que una demostración de prácticas disciplinarias más incluyentes que amplían el pensamiento sobre métodos y responsabilidad metodológica.

Key Words:

• Ellen Churchill Semple
• feminist geography
• Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• intersectionality
• research methods

关键词：:

• Ellen Churchill Semple
• 女权主义地理学
• Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• 交叉性
• 研究方法。

Palabras clave::

• Ellen Churchill Semple
• geografía feminista
• Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• interseccionalidad
• métodos de investigación

Acknowledgments

This article is a significantly revised and expanded version of the paper we presented at the American Association of Geographers annual meeting on 9 April 2021. We are grateful to Andréanne Bissonnette, Khyree Davis, Madelaine Cahuas, April Graham-Jackson, Patrick Grzanka, Carla Macal, Robert Moeller, and Maria Rodo-Zarate for their paper presentations in sessions concerning feminist research methods and intersectionality. Their presentations as well as the conversations in and around these sessions contributed to our work. In addition, many thanks are due to Sarah Elwood, Roberta Hawkins, and Lesli Rawlings for their comments on an earlier version of this article. We would like to thank the editor and the anonymous reviewers, whose comments and suggestions helped us clarify our arguments in this article. Any errors or omissions are our own.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

LaToya E. Eaves

LATOYA E. EAVES is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include Black women’s and Black feminist placemaking practices in the U.S. South, Black geographies, and feminist research methods.

Karen Falconer Al-Hindi

KAREN FALCONER AL-HINDI is a Professor in the Department of Geography and Geology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include intersectionality and feminist research methods, the status of women/femmes in geography, and the histories and philosophies of geography.