Who owns intersectionality? Some reflections on feminist debates on how theories travel - Deutscher Bildungsserver

Who owns intersectionality? Some reflections on feminist debates on how theories travel

18.11.2020, 18:00 Uhr - 18.11.2020, 20:00 Uhr

Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Campus Westend, Casino-Gebäude, Raum 1.801
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 6
60629 Frankfurt am Main
Hessen
Deutschland
CGCentrum@soz.uni-frankfurt.de

h t t p : / / w w w . c g c . u n i - f r a n k f u r t . d e / c o r n e l i a - g o e t h e - c o l l o q u i e n / # I n t e r s e k t i o n a l i t a e t _ i m _ K r e u z f e u e r

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Feminist scholars have increasingly expressed their worries about the depoliticization of intersectionality since it has travelled from its point of origin in US Black feminist theory to the shores of Europe. They have argued that the subject for which the theory was intended has been displaced, that Black feminists have been excluded from the discussion, and that white European feminists have usurped all the credit for intersectionality as theory. Intersectionality has been transformed into a product of the neoliberal academy rather than the helpmeet for social justice it was meant to be. In my lecture, I explore three of the bones of contention in these debates about intersectionality and its travels. I argue that they rest on notions of ownership that, while understandable, are untenable and, ultimately, counterproductive. A case will be made for taking a less proprietary stance toward critical theories and instead treating the travels of intersectionality as an occasion for dialogue rather than a contest over ownership.