Introduction to Intersectionality Higher Education: Theory, Research, Praxis

Living with and navigating multiple, intersecting identities is not a new phenomenon (Yuval-Davis, 2013). Perhaps W. E. B. Du Bois’s (1903/2010) articulation of double consciousness was an expression of the intersection of being both American and an American of African descent and the complexities of navigating those identities. And perhaps Martin Luther King, Jr.’s difficult decision to distance himself from civil rights activist Bayard Rustin—who openly identified as gay (Branch, 1989)—captured the complexities and intersections of religion, politics, and social justice. However, using the term intersectionality to discuss these experiences was introduced by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a scholar of law, critical race theory, and Black feminist thought, in 1989. She used intersectionality to explain the experiences of Black women who, because of the intersection of race and gender, are exposed to exponential forms of marginalization and oppression.