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Intersectional Harm and Racial Justice
Intersectional Harm and Racial Justice
Intersectional Harm
The concept of intersectional harm connects the concept of intersectionality, developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1991), with an analysis of population-level state violence (Spade 2013).
Understanding historic exclusions and systemic inequalities as forms of administrative violence can help identify common sources for different experiences (e.g. students facing financial precarity may experience harm in their capacity to complete their studies in ways that are different from, but might mirror, students with learning disabilities—such as through barriers to accessing safe and quiet space to study in). This approach interrogates how administrative structures and systems (such as educational policies, funding streams, departmental culture, campus security, and service provision) enact harm on a wide scale in ways that may be imperceptible to those in positions of power, including faculty, administrators, and management.
Applying Analysis of Intersectional Harm
Although critiques over the appropriation and institutionalization of intersectionality as a concept must be taken seriously (Nash 2019), when used in an applied context, such as through an analysis of intersectional harm, the concept can help illustrate how individual instances of discrimination or oppression are not simply isolated, but part of institutional systems, structures, and cultures. Identifying the source of administrative violence can help bring longer-lasting transformation beyond individual punitive measures.
For instance, an incident of racism or transphobia in the classroom is usually interpreted as a problem at the level of individuals implicated in the incident, with solutions that focus on the individual(s) involved. However, through a model of intersectional harm, we can see these individual cases as connected to wider university policies that fail to make departments and the institution accountable. For example, simply stating that a course or department is anti-racist and/or trans-inclusive does not mean that faculty, staff, and students have the skill or capacity to put anti-racism and trans-inclusivity into practice.
While traditional university responses to instances of discrimination focus on individual solutions, an intersectional approach to harm would interpret these incidents as illustrations of systemic and structural inequalities within institutions that can be addressed in ways that transform those systems and structures, such as through:
- Challenging the status quo within the institution;
- Creating cultural changes around teaching and interpersonal interaction within departments;
- Creating clear and transparent accountability mechanisms at all levels of the institution;
- Centring the voices and perspectives of those most marginalized at the university in guiding priorities for change; and
- Developing collaborative partnerships that benefit those with the least access to power and resources (e.g. stud