Theorizing and Researching Intersectionality: A Challenge for Feminist GeographyFootnote*

*I wish to thank Karen Dias and Jennifer Blecha in the strongest possible terms for inviting me to participate in the Department of Geography, University of Minnesota Fall 2004 speaker series, Feminism and Social Theory in Geography. Their hospitality was second to none and I was inspired by the conversations shared with them, and their colleagues, in both formal and informal settings during my visit. I am also very grateful to the three anonymous referees, to participants in a World University Network video seminar series, and to the staff and students at Christina Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland, where the paper was also presented for their very constructive comments and suggestions on the original draft of this article. The case study material used in the final section of this article is taken from a research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and carried out in collaboration with Tracey Skelton, Ruth Butler, and two research assistants (Sally McNamee and Carol Devanny). I wish to acknowledge their implicit role in this article through the use of the empirical material from one of the interviews conducted as part of this project.

Literature Cited

• Andersen , M. L. and Hill Collins , P. 1992 . “ Preface ” . In Race, class and gender , Edited by: Andersen , M. L. and Hill Collins , P. Vol. i–xii , Belmont, CA : Wadsworth . In
   Google Scholar
• Anthias , F. and Yuval-Davis , N. 1982 . Racialized boundaries , London : Routledge .
   Google Scholar
• Bonnett , A. 2000 . White identities: Historical and international perspectives , Harlow, , U.K. : Prentice Hall .
   Google Scholar
• Brah , A. and Phoenix , A. 2004 . Ain't I a woman? Revisiting intersectionality . Journal of International Women's Studies , 5 : 75 – 86 .
   Google Scholar
• Burman , E. 2004 . From difference to intersectionality: Challenges and resources . European Journal of Psychotherapy, Counselling and Health , 6 : 293 – 308 .
   Google Scholar
• Butler , J. 1990 . Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity , New York : Routledge .
   Google Scholar
• Corker , M. 1996 . Deaf transitions , London : Jessica Kingsley .
   Google Scholar
• Crenshaw , K. W. 1993 . “ Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics and violence aginst women of color ” . In The public nature of private violence , Edited by: Albertson Fineman , M. and Mykitiuk , R. 93 – 118 . New York : Routledge . In, ed
   Google Scholar
• Crenshaw , K. , Gotanda , N. , Peller , G. and Kendall , T. 1995 . Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement , New York : The New Press .
   Google Scholar
• Fernandes , F. 2003 . A response to Erica Burman . European Journal of Psychotherapy, Counselling and Health , 6 : 309 – 16 .
   Google Scholar
• Fuss , D. 1989 . Essentially speaking: Feminism, nature and difference , London : Routledge .
   Google Scholar
• Fuss , D. 1991 . Inside/out: Lesbian theories, gay theories , London : Routledge .
   Google Scholar
• Giddens , A. 1990 . Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age , Cambridge, , U.K. : Polity Press .
   Google Scholar
• Harvey , D. 1993 . “ Class relations, social justice and the politics of difference ” . In Place and the politics of identity , Edited by: Pile , S. and Keith , M. 41 – 66 . London : Routledge . In, ed
   Google Scholar
• Hill Collins , P. 1990 . Black feminist thought , New York : Routledge .
   Google Scholar
• hooks , b. 1984 . Feminist theory: From margin to center , Boston : South End .
   Google Scholar
• Kessler , S. J. and McKenna , W. 1978 . Gender: An ethnomethodological approach , New York : Wiley .
   Google Scholar
• Kobayashi , A. 1994 . Unnatural discourse: “Race” and gender in geographyGender, Place and Culture . A Journal of Feminist Geography , 1 : 225 – 43 .
   Google Scholar
• Lane , H. 1997 . “ Construction of deafness ” . In The disability studies reader , Edited by: Davis , L. J. 153 – 71 . Routledge : London . In, ed
   Google Scholar
• Law , J. 1994 . Organising modernity , Oxford, , U.K : Blackwell .
   Google Scholar
• McCall , L. 2005 . The complexity of intersectionality . Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society , 30 : 1771 – 1802 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Minow , M. 1997 . Not only for myself: Identity, politics and the law , New York : The New Press .
   Google Scholar
• Monk , J. and Hanson , S. 1982 . On not excluding half of the human in human geography . The Professional Geographer , 34 : 11 – 23 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Moser , I. and Law , J. 1999 . “ Good passages, bad passages ” . In After actor network theory , Edited by: Law , J. 196 – 219 . Oxford, , U.K. : Blackwell . In, ed
   Google Scholar
• Nash , C. 2005 . Contesting identity: Politics of gays and lesbians in Toronto in the 1970s . Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography , 12 : 113 – 36 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Padden , C. 1980 . “ The deaf community and the culture of deaf people ” . In Sign language and the deaf community: Essays in honour of William Stokoe , Edited by: Baker , C. and Battison , R. 63 – 75 . Silver Spring, MD : National Association of the Deaf . (Reproduced in Constructing Deafness, 1991, ed. S. Gregory and G. Hartley. London: Pinter and the Open University.), In
   Google Scholar
• Peake , L. 1993 . “Race” and sexuality: Challenging the patriarchal structuring of urban social space . Environment and Planning D: Society and Space , 11 : 415 – 32 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Philo , C. 2000 . “ More words, more worlds: Reflections on the “cultural turn” and human geography ” . In Cultural turns/geographical turns , Edited by: Cook , I. , Crouch , D. , Naylor , S. and Ryan , J. R. 26 – 53 . Harlow, , U.K. : Pearson Education . In, ed
   Google Scholar
• Pratt , G. 1999 . “ Geographies of identity and difference: Marking boundaries ” . In Human geography today , Edited by: Massey , D. , Allen , J. and Sarre , P. 151 – 68 . Cambridge, , U.K. : Polity Press . In, ed
   Google Scholar
• Pratt , G. 2002 . Collaborating across our differences . Gender, Place and Culture , 9 : 195 – 200 .
   Google Scholar
• Raimondo , M. 2005 . “AIDS capital of the world”: Representing race, sex, and space in Belle Glade, Florida . Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography , 12 : 53 – 70 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Rose , G. 1993 . Feminism & geography , Cambridge, , U.K. : Polity Press .
   Google Scholar
• Ruddick , S. 1996 . Constructing difference in public spaces: Race, class, and gender as interlocking systems . Urban Geography , 17 : 132 – 51 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Saad , T. and Carter , P. 2005 . The entwined spaces of “race,” sex and gender . Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography , 12 : 49 – 52 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Skelton , T. and Valentine , G. 2003 . Political participation, political actions and political identities: Young D/deaf people's perspectives . Space and Polity , 7 (2) : 117 – 34 .
   Google Scholar
• Smith , N. 2000 . Socializing culture, radicalizing the social . Social and Cultural Geography , 1 (1) : 25 – 28 .
   Google Scholar
• Spelman , E. V. 1988 . Inessential woman: Problems of exclusion in feminist thought , Boston : Beacon Press .
   Google Scholar
• Staunes , D. 2003 . Where have all the subjects gone?: Bringing together the concepts of intersectionality and subjectification . NORA , 11 : 101 – 10 .
   Google Scholar
• Thrift , N. 2000 . “ Introduction: Dead or alive? ” . In Cultural turns/geographical turns , Edited by: Cook , I. , Crouch , D. , Naylor , S. and Ryan , J. R. 1 – 6 . Harlow, , U.K. : Pearson Education . In, ed
   Google Scholar
• Valentine , G. 2001 . Whatever happened to the social: Reflections on the “cultural turn” in British human geography . Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift , 55 (3) : 166 – 72 .
   Google Scholar
• Valentine , G. 2006 . Good relations? Negotiating pan-equality strand politics . Paper available from the author
   Google Scholar
• Valentine , G. and MacDonald , I. 2004 . Understanding prejudice , London : Stonewall .
   Google Scholar
• Valentine , G. and Skelton , T. 2003 . Living on the edge: The marginalisation and “resistance” of D/deaf youth . Environment and Planning A , 35 : 301 – 21 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Walby , S. 1986 . Patriarchy at work: Patriarchal and capitalist relations in employment , Cambridge, , U.K. : Polity .
   Google Scholar
• Walker , M. A. 2005 . Guada-narco-lupe, maquilaranas and the discursive constructions of gender and difference on the US-Mexico border in Mexican media re-representations . Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography , 12 : 95 – 112 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• West , C. and Fenstermaker , S. 1995 . Doing difference . Gender and Society , 9 : 8 – 37 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Winders , J. , Jones , J. P. III. and Higgins , M. J. 2005 . Making gueras: Selling white identities on late-night Mexican television . Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography , 12 : 71 – 94 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Women and Geography Study Group (WGSG) . 1984 . Geography and gender: An introduction to feminist geography , London : Hutchinson .
   Google Scholar
• Young , I. M. 1990 . Justice and the politics of difference , Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Young , I. M. 1998 . Harvey's complaint with race and gender struggles: A critical response . Antipode , 30 : 36 – 42 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zinn , M. B. , Weber Cannon , L. , Higginbotham , E. and Thornton Dill , B. 1986 . The costs of exclusionary practices in women's studies . Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society , 11 : 290 – 303 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar