Intersectional Feminism - Papers

📄 Papers

Translating the Feminist Theory of Intersectionality into Gender Analytical Frameworks for Gender and Development

Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt • January 15, 2025

This paper explores how to translate intersectional feminist theory into practical gender analytical frameworks (GAF) for development interventions, warning against turning intersectionality into a simple instrument stripped of its theoretical and methodological nuances.

Intersectional Feminism Development Studies Feminist Epistemology +1

📄 Papers

Intersectional Feminist Theory as a Non-Ideal Theory: Asian American Women Navigating Identity and Power

Y. Kong • April 15, 2023

This philosophical examination argues that intersectional feminism functions as a strong version of non-ideal theory, focusing on the multiply oppressed to understand how intersecting structures of oppression work and generate strategies for dismantling them. Through analyzing Asian American women's experiences navigating identity and power, the paper reveals three characteristic types of identity-power relationships: manifestation of oppression through identity construction, reproduction of oppression, and creation of resistance and solidarity through identity reconstruction.

Intersectional Feminism Asian American Feminism Political Philosophy +2

📄 Papers

Gender Shades: Intersectional Accuracy Disparities in Commercial Gender Classification

Joy Buolamwini, Timnit Gebru • February 23, 2018

A groundbreaking 2018 FAccT study revealing severe bias in commercial facial recognition systems against darker-skinned women, with error rates up to 34.7% compared to just 0.8% for lighter-skinned males.

AI Ethics Intersectional Feminism Race and Gender +3

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Aspiring to a politics of alliance: Response to Sylvia Walby's 'Beyond the politics of location: The power of argument in a global era'

Ann Phoenix • August 1, 2000

This response essay explores tensions between universalism and politics of location in feminist theory, responding to Walby's claims about making universal arguments across local differences. Phoenix, from an intersectional perspective, advocates for alliance politics built on acknowledging difference rather than abstract universalism.

Feminist Theory Intersectional Feminism Identity Politics +2

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Dalit Women Talk Differently: A Critique of 'Difference' and Towards a Dalit Feminist Standpoint Position

Sharmila Rege • October 31, 1998

Sharmila Rege responds to and extends Gopal Guru's argument, proposing Dalit women's experience as a critical standpoint rather than a fixed boundary of difference. The essay matters for Indian feminism, anti-caste politics, and feminist epistemology.

Dalit Feminism Caste and Gender Feminist Epistemology +2

📄 Papers

Toward a Queer Ecofeminism

Greta Gaard • February 1, 1997

A groundbreaking 1997 Hypatia paper that first systematically explored intersections between ecofeminism and queer theory, arguing inclusive environmental ethics must account for diversity of species, gender, and sexuality.

Ecofeminism Queer Theory Queer Feminism +3

📄 Papers

Dalit Women Talk Differently

Gopal Guru • October 14, 1995

Gopal Guru's short intervention is a key starting point for Dalit feminist debate. It argues that Dalit women cannot be represented adequately by either upper-caste feminism or male-dominated Dalit politics, because caste, class, and gender together reshape experience, political organization, and knowledge.

Dalit Feminism Caste and Gender Intersectional Feminism +2

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Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color

Kimberlé Crenshaw • July 1, 1991

This groundbreaking 1991 article systematically articulates intersectionality theory, analyzing how race, gender, and other identity dimensions interact to shape the unique experiences of violence faced by women of color. Crenshaw critiques how anti-discrimination law and feminist movements fail to adequately address multiply-marginalized groups, calling for more inclusive frameworks of social justice.

Intersectional Feminism Black Feminism Race and Gender +3

📄 Papers

Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images

Patricia Hill Collins • January 1, 1990

This chapter from Collins’ seminal book *Black Feminist Thought* analyzes the controlling images of Black womanhood in U.S. culture—such as the mammy, matriarch, welfare queen, and jezebel—and how these stereotypes function to justify intersecting systems of race, gender, and class oppression. Collins argues that these images are ideological tools used to regulate Black women’s labor, sexuality, and social roles.

Black Feminism Intersectional Feminism Media Representation Critique +2

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Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics

Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw • January 1, 1989

Crenshaw's groundbreaking 1989 paper that introduced the 'intersectionality' framework, revealing how Black women are marginalized in antidiscrimination law and feminist movements.

Intersectional Feminism Black Feminism Race and Gender +3

📄 Papers

The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House

Audre Lorde • January 1, 1984

This influential essay critiques exclusionary practices within the feminist movement, arguing that using the tools and methods of oppressive systems to fight oppression is doomed to fail. Lorde calls for recognizing and embracing difference as a source of strength, emphasizing that true liberation requires creating entirely new frameworks rather than seeking reform within existing power structures.

Black Feminism Intersectional Feminism Decolonial Feminism +2