Researchers from the University of Edinburgh and University of Strathclyde, together with the Scottish Human Rights Commission and Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, have recently concluded a seminar series on ‘Children’s Rights, Social Justice and Social Identities in Scotland: Intersections in Research, Policy and Practice’, funded by the Scottish Universities Insight Institute.
The concept of ‘intersectionality’ has become increasingly popular within and beyond academia, whether in debates about feminism or in relation to the multiple forms of discrimination faced by particular social groups.
In short, intersectionality is about understanding the different and unequal social and economic outcomes for particular groups based on interactions between race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, age and ethnicity. This means to recognise the diversity within seemingly ‘homogenous’ groups (such as ‘women’ or ‘children’), and to draw attention to how the actions of social movements and policy makers often minimize the importance of differences within and between such groups.
Its growing popularity has led to intersectionality being described as a ‘buzzword’ (Davis, 2008), yet there is little discussion about the place of children and young people in such debates. Continue reading “Which children? Whose views? Intersectional Childhoods and Inequalities”
Insights 