Addressing intersecting health and social inequities is a pressing policy priority, particularly in the context of growing awareness of interlocking global challenges - including COVID-19 pandemic recovery, geopolitical instability, and autocratizing politics. Interest in intersectionality has grown internationally and across all sectors in the last decade, and promising examples of and guidance around intersectionality-informed policy research and practice have proliferated in recent years.
Despite this progress, challenges on how operationalize an intersectional approach in real-life contexts persist and are discussed in research and policy forums, including the inaccurate uptake of intersectionality, which is rooted in misinterpretations, a lack of expertise and training in critical race theory and other critical approaches, siloed government structures, and a lack of appropriate data and community data governance.
However a major and pressing challenge has received inadequate attention to date; namely, the obstacles to intersectional policy work related to recent changes in political and societal dynamics. These include the expansion of autocratizing politics, political polarization, misinformation, the undermining of democratic processes and rights, and mistrust of institutions.
This panel focuses in on the challenges of taking up intersectionality in policy research and practice within this present-day context. The objective is to share insights on what the specific challenges are, strategies to overcome them, and promising practices to do so, with the overarching goal of advancing equity-promoting policy work by both state and non-state actors. In proposing this panel, we hope to advance “big picture” discussions that can contribute to overcoming the complex challenges to intersectionality, including identifying barriers and enablers in diverse disciplinary and policy contexts, and how to move the work in the field forward through case studies and illustration.
The panel will bring together multisectoral and multijurisdictional experts and scholars who have worked with international organizations, different levels of governments and community groups to develop guidance and capacity to advance intersectionality in policy. Contributing paper presenters will be invited to contribute to a special journal issue on the topic.