Whence and whither intersectional theory?

Intersectionality has existed as the name we give to a theory, a practice, and an identity within feminist imaginaries since the late 1980s. Though often deliberated, the term has primarily come to encapsulate an attention to marginality within feminist theorising, organising and resisting. More recently, it has also become increasingly maligned as vague, neoliberal, or reductive: indicative of ‘identity politics’. Following the approach of postcolonial theorists Robert Stam and Ella Shohat (2012), the following seeks to trace this recent conceptual history of intersectionality, and suggest where it might be going, keeping in mind a “decentred, multidirectional narrative for the circulation of ideas” (p.371). As such, this piece presents a discussion of intersectionality and its various meanings through a review of the literature from the 1980s to the present day, before looking forward to how the term might continue to be used. As feminist scholars, we have a responsibility to consider the politics of representation and the situated nature of meaning – this is as true for intersectionality as for any other concept. If intersectionality continues to provide utility to feminist activists and practitioners, then we must continue to take it seriously.