scholarly journals ‘Doing’ or ‘using’ intersectionality? Opportunities and challenges in incorporating intersectionality into knowledge translation theory and practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Kelly ◽  
Danielle Kasperavicius ◽  
Diane Duncan ◽  
Cole Etherington ◽  
Lora Giangregorio ◽  
...  

AbstractIntersectionality is a widely adopted theoretical orientation in the field of women and gender studies. Intersectionality comes from the work of black feminist scholars and activists. Intersectionality argues identities such as gender, race, sexuality, and other markers of difference intersect and reflect large social structures of oppression and privilege, such as sexism, racism, and heteronormativity. The reach of intersectionality now extends to the fields of public health and knowledge translation. Knowledge translation (KT) is a field of study and practice that aims to synthesize and evaluate research into an evidence base and move that evidence into health care practice. There have been increasing calls to bring gender and other social issues into the field of KT. Yet, as scholars outline, there are few guidelines for incorporating the principles of intersectionality into empirical research. An interdisciplinary, team-based, national health research project in Canada aimed to bring an intersectional lens to the field of knowledge translation. This paper reports on key moments and resulting tensions we experienced through the project, which reflect debates in intersectionality: discomfort with social justice, disciplinary divides, and tokenism. We consider how our project advances intersectionality practice and suggests recommendations for using intersectionality in health research contexts. We argue that while we encountered many challenges, our process and the resulting co-created tools can serve as a valuable starting point and example of how intersectionality can transform fields and practices.

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 569-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Doyal

Gender issues are now receiving more attention on global and national health agendas. However, the evidence base for policy and practice in this area remains limited and conceptual confusion is still common. This article reviews the challenges facing epidemiologists and other researchers who aim to make their work more “gender sensitive.” It begins by exploring the concepts of biological “sex” and social “gender” and assesses their implications for the health of both women and men. It then reviews a range of strategies for mainstreaming sex and gender into health research. The article concludes with brief comments on the links between gender equity and wider equality concerns.


2011 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 303-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk D. Reed ◽  
Clare S. Hocking ◽  
Liz A. Smythe

Background. Some authors are beginning to challenge current categorisations of occupation as self-care, productivity, and leisure in favour of categories that address meaning. However, the meaning of occupation receives relatively little attention in the literature. Purpose. To provide a synthesis of the contemporary literature that considers the meaning of occupation and to argue that phenomenological insights into the meaning of occupation might usefully inform occupational therapy research, theory, and practice. Key Issues. Meaning is a key aspect of occupation. Three phenomenological meanings of occupation uncovered by a study conducted in New Zealand—the call, Being-with and possibilities—provide a starting point for practice, research, and theory informed by understandings of the lived experience of occupation. Implications. Occupational therapy's theories would benefit from an evidence base that includes meaning, which in turn would lead to authentic occupational therapy practice.


Author(s):  
Gabriele Bolte ◽  
Katharina Jacke ◽  
Katrin Groth ◽  
Ute Kraus ◽  
Lisa Dandolo ◽  
...  

There is a growing awareness about the need to comprehensively integrate sex and gender into health research in order to enhance the validity and significance of research results. An in-depth consideration of differential exposures and vulnerability is lacking, especially within environmental risk assessment. Thus, the interdisciplinary team of the collaborative research project INGER (integrating gender into environmental health research) aimed to develop a multidimensional sex/gender concept as a theoretically grounded starting point for the operationalization of sex and gender in quantitative (environmental) health research. The iterative development process was based on gender theoretical and health science approaches and was inspired by previously published concepts or models of sex- and gender-related dimensions. The INGER sex/gender concept fulfills the four theoretically established prerequisites for comprehensively investigating sex and gender aspects in population health research: multidimensionality, variety, embodiment, and intersectionality. The theoretical foundation of INGER’s multidimensional sex/gender concept will be laid out, as well as recent sex/gender conceptualization developments in health sciences. In conclusion, by building upon the latest state of research of several disciplines, the conceptual framework will significantly contribute to integrating gender theoretical concepts into (environmental) health research, improving the validity of research and, thus, supporting the promotion of health equity in the long term.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
Andrea Nicki

This ground-breaking collection represents a significant challenge to psychiatry and is an inspiring collaborative venture between academics, activists, and psychiatric survivors from Canada, England, and the United States. It would be a great text for undergraduate and graduate students in fields like psychology, sociology, social work, disability studies, and women and gender studies. It explores various arguments for opposing psychiatry and can assist those training in mental health professions to raise their health care practice to a higher standard of accountability. 


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 536-551
Author(s):  
Jacqui Miller

Billy Elliot (2000) has been widely recognised as an important British film of the post-Thatcher period. It has been analysed using multiple disciplinary methodologies, but almost always from the theoretical frameworks of class and gender/sexuality. The film has sometimes been used not so much as a focus of analysis itself but as a conduit for exploring issues such as class deprivation or neo-liberal politics and economics. Such studies tend to use the film's perceived shortcomings as a starting point to critique society's wider failings to interrogate constructions of gender and sexuality. This article argues that an examination of the identity formation of some of the film's subsidiary characters shows how fluidity and transformation are key to the film's opening up of a jouissance which is enabled by but goes beyond its central character.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 151-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Love M. Chile ◽  
Xavier M. Black ◽  
Carol Neill

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of social isolation and the factors that create social isolation for residents of inner-city high-rise apartment communities. We critically examine how the physical environment and perceptions of safety in apartment buildings and the inner-city implicate the quality of interactions between residents and with their neighbourhood community. Design/methodology/approach – The authors used mixed-methods consisting of survey questionnaires supplemented by semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions using stratified random sampling to access predetermined key strata of inner-city high-rise resident population. Using coefficient of correlation we examine the significance of the association between social isolation, age and ethnicity amongst Auckland's inner-city high-rise residents. Findings – The authors found the experience and expression of social isolation consistent across all age groups, with highest correlation between functional social isolation and “being student”, and older adults (60+ years), length of tenure in current apartment and length of time residents have lived in the inner-city. Research limitations/implications – As a case study, we did not seek in this research to compare the experience and expressions of social isolation in different inner-city contexts, nor of inner-city high-rise residents in New Zealand and other countries, although these will be useful areas to explore in future studies. Practical implications – This study is a useful starting point to build evidence base for professionals working in health and social care services to develop interventions that will help reduce functional social isolation amongst young adults and older adults in inner-city high-rise apartments. This is particularly important as the inner-city population of older adults grow due to international migration, and sub-national shifts from suburbs to the inner-cities in response to governmental policies of urban consolidation. Originality/value – By identifying two forms of social isolation, namely functional and structural social isolation, we have extended previous analysis of social isolation and found that “living alone” or structural social isolation did not necessarily lead to functional social isolation. It also touched on the links between functional social isolation and self-efficacy of older adults, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds.


2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 45-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Edman

■ Aims The aim of this article is to investigate the problem formulations – the preconceptions about causes and effects and the possible solutions to the problems of alcohol abuse – that characterized the compulsory institutional care of alcohol abusers in Sweden in the 20th century. The article focuses on problem formulations that actually were practised in the institutions. ■ Methods & Data The main source material is to be found in the archives of four institutionalized care establishments and consists of official reports, correspondence, supply estimates, circulars for consideration and – above all – patient records. From this material you can learn about the institutions' struggle for autonomy, expansion and legitimacy, and also about the clients' characteristics and how the clients were viewed. The study of the archives allows you to form a picture of the problem formulations that affected the activities in the institutions directly, a picture that goes beyond the more abstract expectations preferred by official reports and legislation. ■ Results Within the compulsory institutional care actually carried out, the problem formulations that were stipulated in the gender-neutral legislation and vague regulations became gender-specific and precise. The treatment of alcohol abusers was a class and gender related project, aiming not only at encouraging male diligence and the fulfilling of a man's maintenance obligation but also at female virtuousness and concern for the family. ■ Conclusions The history of alcohol abusers' treatment shows that alcohol itself has been a secondary factor in problem definitions which have let themselves be attached – via perceived links with either cause or effect – to more overarching social issues in Sweden. The concerns of emergent family policy in the 1940s, the developmental optimism and scientistic passions of the 1950s, and the systemically critical protest movements of the 1970s are all clearly reflected in trends within social care services for alcohol abusers – albeit much more often at the level of discourse than of praxis.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiaojiao Qu ◽  
Shuming Zhao ◽  
Yixuan Zhao

Purpose This study aims to identify profiles of inclusion in the workplace to provide evidence-based guidance to build an inclusive organization. Design/methodology/approach Latent profile analysis (LPA), a person-centred classification analytical tool, was applied to determine the subtypes of inclusion with Mplus 7.4, using two-wave data collected from 368 employees in 8 Chinese companies. Findings Three subgroups were identified: identity inclusion group (the highest level of inclusion, 34.0%), value inclusion group (the moderate level of inclusion, 47.5%) and low inclusion group (the lowest level of inclusion, 18.5%). The findings indicate that groups with male, aged and highly educated members, as well as members from developed areas generally tend to feel more included and greater inclusion relates to more favourable outcomes and fewer detrimental consequences. Research limitations/implications As this study was conducted only in China, the results may not be generalizable to non-Chinese contexts. Practical implications The results may help organizational leaders develop a deeper understanding of the significance and the crux of inclusion. To address the duality of workforce diversity, managers can take initiatives to create an inclusive organization. To achieve inclusion, managers should pay attention to ways of improving the perceptions of inclusion among all employees. Originality/value This is among the first studies to identify the variants in inclusion in China using LPA. It reveals the subtypes and characteristics of inclusion and can serve as a starting point to explore how to realize organizational inclusion in theory and practice.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document