INTERSECTIONALITY

Intersectionality is a identarian notion.  In her writings on intersectionality and black feminism Patricia Hill Collins describes  a “matrix of domination”.  Her theory of power is based on notions of individual privilege and interpersonal domination arguing that “each one of us derives varying amounts of penalty and privilege from the multiple systems of oppression that frame our lives.  Intersectionality says that while it is true that a white corporate executive is in a position of ascendency over a white labourer, a white labourer is in a position of ascendency over a black labourer or in other words the white labourer exploits the black labourer.

So what does this mean when applied to the real world.  Nothing because it does not describe the real world. It is nonsense.  To put it in traditional Marxist terms a white male worker derives no surplus value from a black worker.  A white guy working periodically in the declining coal industry of Appalachia derives no benefit from a black guy working in a warehouse in Philadelphia.  Similarly what benefit does a white guy working as a pizza deliveryman in Scranton, Pennsylvania derive from a black woman on welfare in Philadelphia?  None.  Everyone poor and rich derive some benefit from low wages in the fast food industry in the sense that their fast food costs are lower but it does not matter whether the low paid worker is black, white, woman or man.  In fact for the white guy working as a pizza delivery it would be better if the minimum wage was increased - both for himself and the fast food worker - even if that meant higher food costs. 

When faced with these class realities the identarian falls back on a psychological analysis.  The white guy gains satisfaction from the fact that there is someone in poorer circumstances than him.  The identarians, however, can not provide even anecdotal evidence to support this proposition.  

Poor whites in the rural south-east of the U.S. may have derived a feeling of social superiority over blacks who lived in a nearby neighborhood but it is improbable that this carries over to a contemporary urban environment.  For one thing poor white folks and poor black folks in the U.S. live in different parts of the cities.  They do not interact all that much - there is no basis to believe that they have a kind of schadenfrude relationship.  An impoverished white person has his or her own day to day struggles which are not helped or hindered by the struggles of another individual whatever the skin colour of another poor person.  Even if a white person and black person work and live in proximity in an urban setting it is highly unlikely that they would have a structured sense of each other's wealth and income situation.

At its heart intersectionality is a textbook theory that has never been grounded in scientific observations of  society.