When I was ten years old, I heard a rising politician in her first speech to Parliament proclaim: I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians. Pauline Hanson A few days later, a concerned teacher asked me if I was okay after hearing the speech. I recall feeling angry and ashamed. Unbeknownst…
Recognizing ‘standpoint’ means understanding that our social positions give us each unique experiences and perspectives of the world. None of our views of reality are perfect and complete. As such, knowledge can never be objective and whole. In fact, there are many possible accounts of social reality, each told from a different standpoint, and all…
When intellectual work emerges from a concern with radical social and political change, when that work is directed to the needs of the people, it brings us into greater solidarity and community. It is fundamentally life-enhancing. From Breaking Bread: Insurgent Black Intellectual Life by bell hooks and Cornel West bell hooks is a social critic…
Audre Lorde proclaimed in her speech at Harvard University in 1982 that: … there is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives. Lorde articulated then what would years later come to be called ‘intersectionality’. She understood that sexism is inextricably linked with racism, colorism, classism, casteism, homophobia, transphobia,…
Please note that this post contains references to domestic violence. In the last few years, have you heard the word “intersectionality” thrown around but never gotten quite clear on what it actually means? Perhaps you’ve heard the motto “my feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit” (originally proclaimed by Flavia Dzodan) and now…