Intersectionality

noun (uncountable)

/ˌɪntəˌsekʃəˈnælɪti/

A theoretical framework, coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989), that analyses how overlapping social identities — caste, gender, class, religion, disability — compound to create unique forms of discrimination not captured by examining any single axis alone. A Dalit woman, for instance, faces discrimination that is qualitatively different from that faced by either Dalit men or upper-caste women. The concept is gaining traction in Indian policy circles, particularly in feminist critiques of the POSH Act's blind spots toward informal-sector women workers.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

Feminist economists invoke intersectionality to argue that India's declining female labour-force participation reflects not merely gender bias but the compounded weight of caste stigma, unpaid care burdens, and class-based educational deficits acting simultaneously.

Synonyms

overlapping oppressionscompounded discriminationmatrix of dominationmultiple marginalization

Antonyms

single-axis analysisuniform identitymonolithic categorization

🌱 Word Family

intersectional (adjective), intersect (verb), intersection (noun), intersectionally (adverb)

🔡 Root

Latin inter- = between, among; secare = to cut (section = a cutting); -ality = quality/state of

📜 Etymology

Compounded from intersection (Latin intersectio, 17th century) and the suffix -ality. Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term in her 1989 paper 'Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex' in the University of Chicago Legal Forum, drawing on the metaphor of a traffic intersection where multiple roads of oppression cross.

🧠 Memory Hook

Visualize a road intersection where multiple traffic streams collide. At the intersection of caste, gender, and class, the person standing in the middle faces pressure from every direction simultaneously — that is intersectionality.

⚖️ Social Justice 📖 Seen in: Dalit Rights & SC/ST Atrocities Act — ...

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