Why we keep separating the ‘inseparable’ : Dialecticising intersectionality
Gunnarsson, Lena LU
(2020)
p.180-194
- Abstract
Disputes about how to understand intersectional relations often pivot around the tension between separateness and inseparability, where some scholars emphasise the need to separate between different intersectional categories while others claim they are inseparable. In this chapter the author takes issue with the either/or thinking that underpins an unnecessary and unproductive polarisation in the debate over the in/separability of intersectional categories. Drawing on Roy Bhaskar’s dialectical critical realist philosophy, the author argues that we can think of intersectional categories as well as different ontological levels as both distinct and unified and elaborate on the significance of the dialectical notion of unity-in-difference... (More)
Disputes about how to understand intersectional relations often pivot around the tension between separateness and inseparability, where some scholars emphasise the need to separate between different intersectional categories while others claim they are inseparable. In this chapter the author takes issue with the either/or thinking that underpins an unnecessary and unproductive polarisation in the debate over the in/separability of intersectional categories. Drawing on Roy Bhaskar’s dialectical critical realist philosophy, the author argues that we can think of intersectional categories as well as different ontological levels as both distinct and unified and elaborate on the significance of the dialectical notion of unity-in-difference for intersectional studies. As part of the argument the author addresses the issue of what it actually means for something to be distinct or separate as opposed to inseparable or unified with something else, demonstrating that lack of clarity about this is at the heart of polarised arguments about separateness versus inseparability in intersectionality theory.
(Less)
- author
- Gunnarsson, Lena
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-01-01
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- Critical Realism, Feminism, and Gender : A Reader - A Reader
- pages
- 15 pages
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85108764411
- ISBN
- 9781351621120
- 9781138083707
- DOI
- 10.4324/9781315112138-8
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Michiel van Ingen, Steph Grohmann, and Lena Gunnarsson. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
- id
- f79f28a2-08e5-4be4-b228-756de37cb08a
- date added to LUP
- 2021-08-16 12:33:24
- date last changed
- 2024-04-06 07:24:15
@inbook{f79f28a2-08e5-4be4-b228-756de37cb08a,
abstract = {{<p>Disputes about how to understand intersectional relations often pivot around the tension between separateness and inseparability, where some scholars emphasise the need to separate between different intersectional categories while others claim they are inseparable. In this chapter the author takes issue with the either/or thinking that underpins an unnecessary and unproductive polarisation in the debate over the in/separability of intersectional categories. Drawing on Roy Bhaskar’s dialectical critical realist philosophy, the author argues that we can think of intersectional categories as well as different ontological levels as both distinct and unified and elaborate on the significance of the dialectical notion of unity-in-difference for intersectional studies. As part of the argument the author addresses the issue of what it actually means for something to be distinct or separate as opposed to inseparable or unified with something else, demonstrating that lack of clarity about this is at the heart of polarised arguments about separateness versus inseparability in intersectionality theory.</p>}},
author = {{Gunnarsson, Lena}},
booktitle = {{Critical Realism, Feminism, and Gender : A Reader}},
isbn = {{9781351621120}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{01}},
pages = {{180--194}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
title = {{Why we keep separating the ‘inseparable’ : Dialecticising intersectionality}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315112138-8}},
doi = {{10.4324/9781315112138-8}},
year = {{2020}},
}