Intersectional Theology Flashcards
Chapter 1
What is intersectionality?
Intersectionality is the recognition of the simultaneity of multiple social identities within interlocking systems of oppression—people experience always and at once their gender, race, sexual identity, ability, age, social class, nation, and religion, and those intertwined identities locate them in relation to structures of power and domination. xi
What does intersectionality do?
It is action-oriented, so perhaps the better question is not what intersectionality is but what does it do?17 As liberation politics, intersectionality makes power visible,18 particularly where resistance and dominance often collude to subordinate nuances and complexities of intersections.19 p.7
Intersectionality is not Abstract
In other words, we can argue that everyone’s identity is intersectional without exploring the political ramifications of those differences within systems of hierar- chical gendered and racialized power. Intersections are not just about identities; they are also about institutions and systems of power that also intersect and give shape. for example: bell hooks illustrates this when she contends that fem- inists should not try to bond over shared experiences of victimization as women or some abstract notion of womanhood, but rather they should bond over a shared political commitment to ending sexist oppression.28 p. 8
Contextual
We decided the best way to do this was to put our own stories side by side so readers could see the difference social differences within structures of power make, and how these different experiences and locations affect the ways Grace and Susan do theology. Like other liberation theologies, intersectional theology is contextual; it begins in the stories of those who are doing the theologizing, and it is always aware of the intersections of identities and the impact of structures of power.
Emphasize social Location
In particular, theologies written by heterosexual, white men rarely delve into the social location of the writer, exempting the writer’s own whiteness, heterosexuality, and maleness from consideration in the theologizing he does. p.xiv
“The matrix of domination,
As a part of what feminist sociologist Patricia Hill Collins calls “the matrix of domination,”1 that place where intersecting social identities and institutions of power overlap, theology plays a role in maintaining hierarchies of power. Christian theology specifically has been a key player in reproducing systems of oppression throughout history through its support for imperialism, capitalism, slavery, segregation, the domination of women, and anti-LGBTQ discrimination. In recent years, Christians have misused Scripture and theology to maintain social inequality, and, most recently, many Christians have supported the anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-people of color, anti-LGBTQ, and anti-poor rant- ings and policies of the present administration.
Intersectional Analysis:
Intersectional analysis helps us understand why Latina and black women scientists are frequently mistaken for janitors when their white counterparts are not,3 or why the gender and sexual identity of a scientist or research subject can affect the results of a study.4 Using an intersectional lens helps us view phenomena in more complicated and nuanced ways that pay special attention to social differences, institutions, and power. p.3
An intersectional center demands that theology attend to difference and power and recognize the significant contributions to theology from diverse contributors and the limitations of theologies that only reflect a dominant or single-axis view. p.3
Domains of Power:
interpersonal, disciplinary, cultural, and structural.”32
- The interpersonal domain of power is the domain where individuals interact and relate to one another across various advantages and disadvantages.
- The disciplinary domain of power is how the rules work, how power operates to “discipline” people’s lives through the options afforded or not afforded to them.
- The cultural domain of power is the ideas and messages that shape our understandings of difference and power (the playing field is level; we live in a meritocracy where people are rewarded according to their effort).
- Finally, the structural domain of power is the mutually reinforcing relations of gender, race, class, sexuality, nation, and social institutions.33 Through these four domains, power and resources are distributed inequitably across differences, producing and reproducing social inequality. p. 9
CORE CONCEPTS OF INTERSECTIONALITY
Social inequality:
Social inequality: Intersectionality recognizes the simultaneous and multiple factors contributing to social inequality. Rather than seeing social inequality as the product of only one factor—class gender, or race—intersectionality challenges us to see social inequality as the product of the interactions of difference within social institutions.
CORE CONCEPTS OF INTERSECTIONALITY
Power:
Power is constructed, maintained, and distributed in the interactions of gender, race, nation, and other forms of difference within interlocking systems of oppression. Collins argues that power relations must then be analyzed at the intersections and across the domains of structural, disciplinary, cultural, and interpersonal power.35
CORE CONCEPTS OF INTERSECTIONALITY
Relationality:
Relationality: Relationality demands a both/and approach rather than an either/or approach. It centers on interconnections and complicated relationships rather than single factors or static entities.36
CORE CONCEPTS OF INTERSECTIONALITY
Social context:
Social context: All power relations occur within a context, and so intersectional thinking requires we consider the historical, social, intellectual, political, and religious contexts that give shape to our analysis. This approach allows distinct and differing perspectives that add to and complicate our own and help us understand difference itself.37
CORE CONCEPTS OF INTERSECTIONALITY
Complexity:
By refusing a single-axis analysis, intersectionality creates space for complexity, fluidity, and even contradiction in our understanding of power, privilege, inequality, and resistance. This complexity makes intersectional thinking so difficult and inclines us toward “slippages” if we do not keep intersectionality at the forefront of our thinking.
CORE CONCEPTS OF INTERSECTIONALITY
Social justice:
Intersectionality, as May has argued, is biased toward social justice. We engage in intersectional thinking to act in the world to bring about change that dismantles oppressive systems and creates inclusive and equitable systems for all people.
Intersectional theology
- We imagine intersectional theology as kaleidoscopic. Intersectional theology is a destabilizing theology that reminds us that our theological ideas are always tentative and theology is always an ongoing process. A kaleidoscopic theology is one that is constantly changing with each turn of perspective; it holds multiple (and sometimes competing) views in mind at the same time. It makes visible the differently situated knower and the complex web of relationships and social institutions in which it is embedded.
- as a practical theology can provide critiques, challenges, and directions for the church as it seeks to be an inclusive, equitable, and just community of faith.
