Bridging the critical research gap: a call to action!

When I first read Crenshaw's (1991) Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color, the concept of intersectionality surfaced two important parts of myself, which I believe many other teachers will have at their core:

(1) my inner activist, and

(2) my inner scientist.

These two parts of me have combined particularly well in my pursuits as a teacher of computer science and now also, in my scholarly pursuits of intersectional feminism and organisation studies as part of my quest to better understand, and thus navigate, complex issues of social justice. 

Where better to start than the work of #WomenEd!

Crenshaw (1991) writes:  'Over the last two decades, women have organized against the almost routine violence that shapes their lives. Drawing from the strength of shared experience, women have recognized that the political demands of millions speak more powerfully than the pleas of a few isolated voices.'

This passage calls to my inner activist, to join with others.

She goes on to state that:

'This process of recognizing as social and systemic what was formerly perceived as isolated and individual… has been a source of strength, community, and intellectual development.'

…and that's where my inner scientist kicked into action.

And together, the activist and the scientist, started asking questions:

• How do individual experiences map onto these bigger institutional forces?
• What I know, and what I don't, and the extent to which knowledge and power are interwoven, and to what end?
• How I may have been complicit, even with my 'eyes wide open'?
• Who knows how to make change and whether they are doing anything about it (including suppressing emancipatory change)?
• What we collectively need to be doing about it?

With these questions a surge of intellectual activity and energy comes out of the void, and I understand… this is what intersectionality is about!

'…social power in delineating difference need not be the power of domination; it can instead be the source of social empowerment and reconstruction.' (Crenshaw, 1991)

One answer Crenshaw has regarding a location for action is in schools (see video link below).

And so my call to action is to create a #WomenEd Research Learning Forum.

I hope to start a conversation between the activist and scientist within us and those across the WomenEd community: 

• To enquire and learn from each other's' tentative steps to action in schools, informed by research and critical reflection. 
• To learn from the wonderful work of critical scholarship which exists, but which is often out of a teacher's reach as behind a pay wall, locked in an ivory tower. It is important to bring together these scientists and activists, as surely, we have significant work to do.

I am very keen to develop as the research lead for #WomenEd alongside a group of other women in our community who have been exploring options. 

There is so much expertise that we can harness and share including dissertations and research. 

We want to facilitate a research forum which you are very welcome to join. 

Please get in touch on Twitter or on LinkedIn and share your ideas.

We will be in touch again in the Autumn to get started!

Resources

Short video where Crenshaw explains Intersectionality to the National Association of Independent Schools Network. We need new ways of thinking about problems.

A Ted Talk where Crenshaw talks about facts and frames and our limited understanding: 

What Crenshaw calls 'Intersectionality 101' where she talks about the way patterns of inequality are reinforcing. Our failure to interrogate that which is 'invisible to the naked eye' (we need the scientist and the activist). The importance of practice 'to see beyond…'and to consider 'the unintended consequences.'