World-Traveling and Political Solidarity: Intersectional Perspectives on Activist Identity Formation

This paper mobilizes María Lugones' concept of "world"-traveling as a theoretical framework to analyze the formation of activist identities in contemporary social justice movements. By applying Lugones' insights about how marginalized subjects navigate multiple social worlds, this research offers a novel approach to understanding how activists, particularly those from intersectionally marginalized positions, develop and negotiate their practical identities across different activist spaces. The analysis draws from Black and Latina feminist theoretical traditions to examine how the capacity for "world"-traveling shapes both individual activist consciousness and collective organizing practices. Through engaging with works by Elizabeth Spelman, Angela Davis, and bell hooks, alongside Lugones' theoretical contributions, this study illuminates how the ability to traverse multiple "worlds" becomes both a survival strategy and a source of transformative political agency. The paper argues that viewing activist identity formation through the lens of "world"-traveling reveals crucial insights about the complexity of political subjectivity and the possibilities for coalition-building across difference. This theoretical framework offers new perspectives for understanding contemporary activism in Europe and beyond, while contributing to ongoing discussions about intersectionality in social justice movements and feminist philosophy. Finally, this approach contributes to contemporary discussions about intersectional activism by proposing a model of solidarity that moves beyond both the limitations of liberal feminist universalism and the mere acknowledgment of difference, toward a more nuanced understanding of how activists can build coalitions across varied social locations and experiences.