In this paper, we analyze the scholarship on intersectionality in Political Science by examining the nature and consequence of the mainstreaming of intersectionality. As the study of intersectionality has spread to new fields and groups, and as it has begun to penetrate the mainstream journals in political science, critics contend that the widespread adoption of the idea of intersectionality- often by scholars of the dominant race or ethnicity- has been accompanied by a depoliticization of the concept and the sidelining of work by women of color. We take up these claims in an empirical analysis of citation patterns in work on intersectionality in Political Science. Using network analysis of these patterns, we ask whether scholarly work on intersectionality today is more likely to focus on social dimensions other than race, and whether that represents a decentering of work on women of color. We ask whether mainstreaming of the concept has been accompanied by a tendency to overlook or devalue work by women of color. Who is cited most and least? What trends in citation patterns are visible? Who is most central to the intersectionality literature and who is least central? Our research provides answers to these questions. We conclude by considering the implications for future scholarship in intersectionality.
