4.2: Positionality and Intersectionality
Now that you have spent some time reflecting on equity, diversity, and inclusion, let’s dive a bit deeper into how our social identities, positionality, and privilege(s) intersect.
Positionality
Positionality refers to the personal values, views, and location in time and space that influence how one engages with and understands the world. It is wrapped up in the dynamics of power and privilege. For example, your gender, race, class, and other aspects of your social identities influence and inform how you move through the world, what knowledge you produce and value, and the biases through which everything you say, think, and do, is filtered, intentionally or otherwise.
Moreover, positionality is experienced differently in different contexts, and can dictate how much access you have (to resources, support, etc.) in society (The University of British Columbia, n.d.). In this sense, we cannot ignore “the power inherent in . . . social positions” (Misawa, 2010, p. 26).
Intersectionality
In this video, What is Intersectionality? [1:54] by the National Association of Independent Schools (2018), Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw talks about the study of how overlapping or intersecting social identities relate to systems and structures of discrimination.
Related to positionality, intersectionality acknowledges the complex relationship between social identities, and systems of power and oppression. Given the fluid, relational, and social construction of identities, intersectional paradigms recognize that every person has multiple and diverse identities (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, dis/ability, beliefs, and worldview) that combine in unique ways to shape our perspectives, and experiences with oppression and privilege (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2001). In this context, intersectionality recognizes that oppression does not exist within a vacuum, but rather intersecting oppressions work together in producing injustice (Collins, 2001).
The following graphic entitled “Intersectionality” visually displays how social identities intersect with one another and are wrapped in systems of power. For example, using the imagery of a spirograph, Duckworth (2020) colour-codes various social identities including race, ethnicity, gender identity, class, language, religion, ability, sexuality, mental health, age, education, and body size.
Social Identities, Privilege and Oppression
Critical social psychology describes identity as a social construction that is learned through interactions with others and the world, and that has a strong impact on who we become (Allen & Rosatto, as cited in Shah, 2018). Social privilege exists on the basis of complex and intersecting social identities, such as race, gender, ability, class, faith/religion, age and sexuality and the relative distance of these identities to dominant identities and power (Black & Stone, as cited in Shah, 2018).
Wheel of Power/Privilege
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