Interested in learning more about the topics covered in the Diversity Cafe? Check out this guide for readings and resources available online and in the library!
The Intersectionality of Gender, Rights, and Privilege: A Comparative Analysis of 127 Countries
This study provides a macro-level comparison of the rights and privileges that women have around the world through the development of a multi-dimensional index of prowoman states. This is important because states that score highly on the index provide models for decreasing gender inequalities and increasing human rights for women worldwide. Cross-national differences in female education, employment, reproductive freedom, and participation in state policy formation are explored. Pro-woman states have policies that are associated with higher levels of education, income, and satisfaction. An understanding of the rights and privileges provided in pro-woman states can be used to restructure the welfare state to encourage the empowerment of women and the development of more equal societies.
Power, privilege and disadvantage: Intersectionality theory and political representation
This article critically reviews the extant literature on social group representation and clarifies the advantages of intersectionality theory for studying political representation. It argues that the merit of intersectionality theory can be found in its ontology of power. Intersectionality theory is founded on a relational conception of political power that locates the constitution of power relations within social interactions, such as political representation. As such, intersectionality theory pushes scholarship beyond studying representation inequalities – that are linked to presumably stable societal positions – to also consider the ways in which political representation (re)creates positions of privilege and disadvantage.
Power, privilege and justice: intersectionality as human rights?
How can we best connect and understand issues of power, privilege and justice in a human rights framework? One approach is to explicitly position intersectionality as a theoretical lens that can assist a critical understanding of the connections between these concepts and realities. The paper does this through an examination of the situation in Scotland via Show Racism the Red Card, an anti-racist non-governmental organisation that works with school-age children to raise awareness on the power of prejudice and discrimination in everyday, interrelated lives. It is shown that despite its complexities, intersectionality can work both conceptually and methodologically in complex environments such as classrooms. The realisation of rights is foregrounded and an appreciation of context, politics, social divisions and outcomes vis-à-vis inclusive equalities needs to be fully grasped. The case study of Show Racism the Red Card situates the nuances of intersectionality as both theory and method, illustrating the need for human rights to be mindful of past, present and future. Overall, it is argued that the example of Scotland offers opportunities to witness a critique of how power, privilege and justice are connected and challenged in a human rights context and how rights can be realised in everyday settings.
Reflecting on privileges: Defensive strategies of privileged individuals in anti-oppressive education
The article discusses defensive strategies of privileged individuals in anti-oppressive education. Topics discussed include factors contributing to structural privileges such as whiteness, heteronormativity and masculinity, the concept of intersectionality for understanding the structural privileges, and personal experiences of university lecturers, school teachers and antiracism trainers.
The Myth of Equality: uncovering the roots of injustice and privilege
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ISBN: 9780830844821Publication Date: 2017
This Will Be My Undoing: living at the intersection of black, female, and feminist in (white) America
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ISBN: 9780062666154Publication Date: 2018
