From primary to pluralistic: A typology of intersectionality

Abstract

Intersectionality has emerged as an important theoretical concept for examining intersecting social hierarchies and has garnered varying interpretations and applications in scholarly discourse. To help organize varied definitions of intersectionality that are commonly used in the social sciences, we propose a typology that distinguishes between primary, pragmatic, and pluralistic intersectionality. In this typology, primary intersectionality centers on Black women and has a social inequity focus, pragmatic intersectionality includes various groups with flexible applications, and pluralistic intersectionality encompasses a broad inclusion of categorizations without an inequity focus. This typology can be used to clarify research focus, enhance theoretical rigor, and prevent misinterpretation, thereby advancing understanding of intersectionality within social psychology and micro-organizational behavior.