What are Intersecting Oppressions? What You Need to Know?

Collin raises a view towards oppression and identity politics that has the potential to change the world and guarantee continuous change. Continuous change is not limited to a single group, and thus social movement should transcend specific group politics. I find it amazing that her notion comes from her experience as a black woman. Black women are at a unique point where two system of oppression intersects. These are race and gender. She refers to this position as intersectionality, the opening up an imagination of arenas with crisscrossing interests. Thus the intersection theory becomes an examination the way different system of oppression come together to create inequality. It is now possible to visualize how in addition to gender, and race, social class, and sexuality join in to magnify the equalities for those who fall at the point where all these systems cross. It is very insightful of Collins to start by conducting a black feminist epistemology, exploring the knowledge that the black feminists have created. Through this exploration, it emerges that the works of the black feminists capture this concept of intersectionality since they are shaped by cultural differences and intersection of oppression. Her implication of the black feminist thought it that knowing and knowledge are inseparable. Form Collins own perspective “how we know and what we know have implications for who we see ourselves to be, how we live our lives and how we treat others" (Collins, n.d.) It noticed the knowledge she put together has enormous implication for black women and feminist scholars, social theorists and researchers and white male theorists. 

It is also interesting how Collins comes up with the ideas of the matrix of domination which is a complex network of forces they create inequality. As such her work becomes diversified as she does not confine her discussion to black women alone but broadens her alliance with other notions accurse classes, gender, and race. Listening to other can paint the picture that oppression and inequality arise from several sources or force that affect many people differently. The matrix operates at three levels, individuals or personal, groups and society or institutions, influence all these levels through arrangements and systems of intersectionality, for instance, "social structures such as law, polity, religion, and the economy” (Collins, n.d.). In a nutshell, intersectionality helps provides an approach for examining a community by placing it at the center and deciphering where they are positioned within the matrix of domination. Groups can form coalitions to challenges the oppression. 

Reference 

Patricia Hill Collins: Intersecting Oppressions