Intersectionality and Justice
“Peace studies scholars and practitioners are increasingly using the lenses of gender and race to diagnose problems and generate constructive solutions. The Kroc Institute will make intersectionality, including attention to race and gender, one of the central themes of its research and teaching agenda…”
Excerpt from the Kroc Institute’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan
The term intersectionality has become a key conceptual framework and method of identifying the complex overlap of various social identities, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class, and the ways systemic oppression and discrimination are experienced by individuals. The concept was originally introduced by Professor Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in her 1989 paper, "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics,” to describe the particular experience of black women.
Although many peace studies faculty members were conducting intersectional research prior to 2018, the launch of the Institute’s five-year strategic plan formalized the Institute’s commitment to using an intersectional lens to engage our peace studies research, practice, and educational efforts.
Kroc Institute faculty conducting research in this area include:
- Ashley Bohrer, Assistant Professor of Gender and Peace Studies
- Josefina Echavarría Alvarez, Associate Professor of the Practice; Director, Peace Accords Matrix Program
- Atalia Omer, Professor of Religion, Conflict and Peace Studies
- Jason A. Springs, Professor of Religion, Ethics and Peace Studies