Intersectionality in an Era of Globalization: The Implications of the U.N. World Conference against Racism for Transnational Feminist Practices

This report examines intersectionality as a feminist approach that significantly impacted the discourses and conversations that took place at the World Conference Against Racism and its parallel NGO Forum, in Durban, South Africa in 2001. The term intersectionality refers to the links between gender discrimination, homophobia, racism and class exploitation. As women of color feminist scholars positioned within the geographic territories of the U.S., the authors specifically highlight key issues and social movement trends that were ignored by the U.S. media. Alternatively, this report focuses on how the conference framework of related intolerance allowed for broader conversations on how racism is exacerbated by globalization as well as on multiple oppressions in relation to sexual orientation and sexual rights. The authors emphasize how an insistence on discussing the significance of race and gender as well as class, in the context of neo-liberal capitalism, puts important new coordinates on the maps of transnational feminist organizing and anti-globalization movement