Course
Intersectionality: Critical perspectives on Inequality and Power (GEN360)
The course serves as an introduction to the concept of intersectionality and how it has been used as a critical analytic to produce knowledge of the ways in which structural inequality and oppression continues to organize human life. Intersectionality suggests that inequality is never (only) shaped by single-axis division, such as gender, but rather that inequality must be understood as the effect of multiple and overlapping axes of division grounded in histories of colonialism and exploitation. Intersectional frameworks emerge from and are indebted to Black feminist theory, critical race studies, and in particular the activist labour of Black women and women of colour. Today intersectionality is both a widely used concept in scholarship, policymaking, and activism, and a contested concept in public debates about feminism, anti-racism, and identity politics in the Nordic region.
Course description for study year 2020-2021. Please note that changes may occur.
Semesters
Facts
Course code
GEN360
Credits (ECTS)
10
Semester tution start
Spring
Language of instruction
English
Number of semesters
1
Exam semester
Spring
Time table
Literature
Content
During the course we will acquire knowledge of how intersectionality emerges from Black feminist theory and critical race studies. During the course we will investigate how intersectional thinking from the onset sought to undo the whiteness of feminist knowledge production, and intersectionality will be discussed in relation to different themes such as racism, the legacy of colonialism, reproductive justice, belonging, identity politics, and different forms of activism. We will also examine how intersectionality has traveled across (academic) geographies and how it has been used and debated by gender studies scholars in the Nordic region. The course is relevant for students who are interested in the theoretical and analytical potentialities of intersectionality.
Learning outcome
Learning outcomes
Knowledge:
- Students should acquire knowledge about intersectionality as a theoretical and analytical framework.
- Students should acquire knowledge of how multiple axes of social division such as gender, race, sexuality, age, class, intersect and how these may be articulated and discussed in complex ways.
- Students should acquire knowledge of contemporary debates around intersectionality and how the concept is used to promote to social change.
Skills:
- Students should be able to analyse and critically discuss intersectionality as a theoretical framework.
- Students should be able to analyse inequality as the effect of multiple axes of social division through an intersectional lens.
- Students should be able to discuss the politics of intersectionality and assess its potentiality for initiating social change.
Competences:
- After completing the course, students are expected to be familiar with core texts on intersectionality.
- After completing the course, students are expected to have acquired theoretical knowledge about intersectionality and use intersectionality as an analytical perspective.
- After completing the course, students are expected to be able to apply intersectional perspectives in educational settings as well as their everyday lives.
Required prerequisite knowledge
None
Recommended prerequisites
60 ECTS
Exam
Coursework requirements
The course requires active participation, and students will have to submit two written assignments (500 words each) during the semester and participate in one activity. The assignments/activity comprise the compulsory mid-term evaluation, which will receive a pass/fail assessment. Students will have to pass this 3-part compulsory assignment in order to qualify for the final exam. The language for the coursework is English.
Course teacher(s)
Course coordinator:
Lene MyongMethod of work
The course consists of weekly sessions. These sessions will include lectures, seminars, group work and individual work adapted to different modes of study. All students are expected to read the syllabus and participate in group discussions and thereby develop analytic reflections in a productive environment with fellow students. This will be done on and off campus and the course coordinator will facilitate a digital learning platform (Canvas). The working language for this course is English.
Overlapping courses
| Course | Reduction (SP) |
|---|---|
| Intersectionality: Critical perspectives on Inequality and Power (GEN360_1) , Intersectionality: critical perspectives on Inequality and Power (GEN560_1) | 10 |
Open for
Admission to Single Courses at the Faculty of Social Sciences
Admission to Single Courses at Faculty of Arts and Education
Primary and Lower Secondary Teacher Education for Years 1 - 7, Master
Primary and Lower Secondary Teacher Education for Years 1 - 7, Master, Part-Time
Primary and Lower Secondary Teacher Education for Years 5 - 10, Master
Advanced teacher education for levels 8-13
Advanced teacher education for level 8-13 in science
Mathematics and Physics - Five Year Integrated Master's Degree Programme
Half Year Intermediate Program in English
Half Year Intermediate Program in History
Christianity/Religion - Half Year Intermediate Programme
Half Year Intermediate Program in Nordic Languages and Literature
Educational Theory and Practice
Educational Theory and Practice
Educational Theory and Practice in Performing and Creative Arts
Educational Theory and Practice in Performing and Creative Arts
Exchange programmes at UIS Business School
Exchange programmes at Faculty of Health Sciences
Exchange programme at Faculty of Social Sciences
Exchange programme at Faculty of Science and Technology
Exchange Students at Faculty of Arts and Education
Drama and Theatre Communication- One-year programme
English - One-year programme
Outdoor Education
Offshore Wind Energy - One-Year Study Program
History - One-year programme
Sports Science- One-year programme
Communication - One Year Study Programme
Religious Studies - One-year programme
Arts and Crafts - One-year programme
Learning and Psychology, a one-year course
Mathematics - One-Year Programme
Primary and Secondary School Music Education
Nordic Languages and Literature - One-year programme
Psychology - One-year programme
Science and Technology - one-year programme
Tourism in change - One - year Programme
Sociology - One-year programme
Political Science - One - year Programme
One year study programme - Music Performance
Course assessment
The course will be assessed every year in line with standard procedures for course evaluation at the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Literature
INTRODUCTION TO THINKING ABOUT INTERSECTIONALITY1. Ritchie AJ, Delores Jones-Brown. Policing Race, Gender, and Sex: A Review of Law Enforcement Policies. Women & Criminal Justice. 27:27–51. doi:10.1080/08974454.2016.12595992. Crenshaw K. Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Anti-Discrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Anti- Racist Politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum. 1. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=uclf3. Simpson LB. Idle No More and Black Lives Matter: An Exchange. Studies in Social Justice. 12(1):75–89.4. Browne SA. “Of «Passport Babies» and «Border Control»: The Case of Mavis Baker v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.”. Atlantis. 2002;26(2):97–108.5. Collins PH. Black feminist thought : knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment. 2nd ed. Routledge; 2000.6. Razack S. Geopolitics, Culture Clash, and Gender After September 11. Social Justice. 2005;32(4):11–31.EARLY WRITING BY FEMINIST OF COLOUR: SHAPING INTERSECTIONALITY THROUGH RESISTANCE7. Gloria T Hull, red. All the women are White, all the Blacks are men, but some of us are brave : black women’s studies. Feminist Press; 1982.8. Gloria Anzaldua. This bridge called my back : writings by radical women of color. I: Moraga C and A, Cherríe Moraga, red. Speaking in Tongues: A Letter to Third World Women. Persephone Press; 1981:165–174.9. The Combahee River Collective. A Black Feminist Statement. Women’s Studies Quarterly. 2009;42(3/4):271–280.10. Barbara Smith. Racism and Women’s Studies. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 1980;5(1):48–49.11. Donna Kate Rushin. The Bridge Poem. Les cahiers du CEDREF. 2011;18:41–44.SEXISM, RACISM AND SLAVERY: CHALLENGING THE UNIVERSALITY OF WOMANHOOD12. Truth S. Ain’t I a Woman? (Speech delivered at 1851 Women’s Rights Convention, Akron, Ohio.).; 1851.13. Angela Y. Davis (1944-). Women, race & class. Random House; 1981.SPOTLIGHT: bell hooks14. Bell Hooks. Introduction. I: Ain’t I a woman : black women and feminism. South End Press; 1981:1–14.15. bell hooks. Black looks : race and representation. South End Press; 1992.SPOTLIGHT: AUDRE LORDE16. Audre Lorde (1934-1992). Sister outsider : essays and speeches. Crossing Press; 1984.BLACK FEMINISM IN CANADA17. McKittrick K. Demonic Grounds [electronic resource] : Black Women And The Cartographies Of Struggle . NED - New edition. University of Minnesota Press; 2006. doi:10.5749/j.ctttv711WRITING BY FEMINIST OF COLOUR IN SWEDEN18. Sawyer L, Habel Y. Refracting African and Black diaspora through the Nordic region. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal: Nordic Reflections of African and Black Diaspora. 2014;7(1):1–6. doi:10.1080/17528631.2013.86123519. Sawyer L. Routings: «Race,» African Diasporas, and Swedish Belonging. Transforming Anthropology. 2002;11(1):13–35. doi:10.1525/tran.2002.11.1.13NO CLASSGENDER, RACISM, NATION, & ISLAM: MUSLIM WOMEN20. Mahmood Mamdani. Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism. American Anthropologist. 2002;104(3):766–775. doi:10.1525/aa.2002.104.3.76621. Razack SH. Imperilled Muslim Women, Dangerous Muslim Men and Civilised Europeans: Legal and Social Responses to Forced Marriages. Feminist Legal Studies. 2004;12(2):129–174. doi:10.1023/B:FEST.0000043305.66172.9222. miriam cooke. Saving Brown Women. Signs. 2002;28(1):468–470. doi:10.1086/340888COLONIALISM, INDIGENEITY, AND POST-COLONIAL THOUGHT: INDIGENOUS THINKERS23. Castejon V, Cole A, Haag O. Ngapartji Ngapartji : ego-histoire, Europe and indigenous Australia . (Pascoe B, Castejon V, Castejon V, red.). Australian National University Press; 2014. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13wwvhn?pq-origsite=summon24. Goeman M. (Re)Mapping Indigenous Presence on the Land in Native Women’s Literature. American Quarterly. 2008;60(2):295–302.QUEERS OF COLOUR: QUEERING STUDIES OF RACISM & CLASS25. El-Tayeb F. «Gays who cannot properly be gay»: Queer Muslims in the neoliberal European city. European Journal of Women’s Studies. 2012;19(1):79–95. doi:10.1177/135050681142638826. Wares SM. Confessions of a Black Pregnant Dad. I: Julia Chinyere Oparah, Alicia D. Bonaparte, Julia Chinyere Oparah (editor.), red. Birthing justice : black women, pregnancy, and childbirth. Routledge; 2016:63–71.27. Haritaworn J. Hate. I: Queer lovers and hateful others : Regenerating violent times and places. Pluto Press; 2016:125–141.RACISM, CLASS AND GENDER: STATE VIOLENCE, CRIMINALIZATION AND THE PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX28. S. Lamble. Transforming Carceral Logistics: 10 Reasons to Dismantle the Prison Industrial Complex Using a Queer/Trans Analysis. I: Nat Smith and Eric A. Stanley, red. Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex. Second. ; 119–131.29. Eric A. Stanley. Fugitive Flesh: Gender Self-Determination, Queer Abolition, and Trans Resistance. I: Nat Smith and Eric A. Stanley, red. Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex. Second. ; 6–10.
The course description is retrieved from FS (Felles studentsystem). Version 1