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Against the backdrop of the emergence of intersectionality as a dominant paradigm in feminist scholarship and activism, this book explores the genre of metacommentaries as critical responses to the development of intersectionality as a paradigm. With attention to the dispersal of intersectionality into ever-newer contexts - and the missteps and breakdowns that occur during this process - it addresses the concern that intersectionality is transforming into something unrecognisable, drifting too far away from its foundational sources and visions and becoming diluted by its expansion. Examining the process by which metacommentaries engage in a form of corrective storytelling - seeking to rescue intersectionality from misuse by pinning it down and returning it to where it belongs - Interpreting Intersectionality presents a critique of these gestures of correction, arguing that, far from reconnecting intersectionality with its roots and enabling it to realise its potential, such metacommentaries actually bind the scholarly discourse on intersectionality to an either/or argumentative dynamic. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students with an interest in feminist theory, gender studies and/or intersectional analysis.
List of contents
List of tables
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: Metacommentaries and the charge of misapplication
2 Telling intersectional stories
3 Intersectional intersectionality
4 Ambivalent histories
5 The quest for the right metaphor
6 Conclusion: On the interpretative politics of intersectionality
References
Index
About the author
Amund Rake Hoffart is Researcher at the Centre for Gender Research, University of Oslo.
Summary
This book explores the genre of metacommentaries as critical responses to the development of intersectionality as a paradigm, contending that far from re-connecting intersectionality with its roots and enabling it to realise its potential, such critiques bind the scholarly discourse to an either/or argumentative dynamic.
