Intersectional critical lenses on current disputes around gender, sexuality and race

An intersectional analysis of politics allows exploring the diverse ways in which gender, race, class and sexuality, among others, shape a myriad of phenomena, including policymaking, the functioning of political institutions and political representation, the behaviour of political actors, the performance and discourse of social movements, international relations, etc. Likewise, it enables the analysis of these intersections as the object of policymaking, social movements’ grievances, epistemic struggles and multiple political discourses. In recent years the scholarly attention of the field of gender and politics has concentrated on the rise of anti-gender, LGBTQIA*-phobic and racist opposition against established feminist and gender equality frameworks in both institutional and extra-institutional spaces. This literature not only explores the impact of the so-called ‘anti-gender actors’ on democratic processes and social dynamics, but also the ways in which social justice, feminist, LGBTQIA* and anti-racist actors have responded to this exclusionary wave. Yet, a critical scholarship, including queer, decolonial, and critical race perspectives, also reminds that many of these intersectional exclusions are far from new, and were already present in established gender equality policies and institutions, and in LGBTQIA* and feminist politics. This section seeks to provide a platform for scholars, activists, and policymakers to continue this conversation on the state of gender, anti-racist and LGBTQIA* politics across multiple political realities. We encourage the submission of critical readings of dynamics of marginalisation, exclusions and oppression in political phenomena, with an emphasis on intersectional perspectives as a tool to expand our understanding of the intertwined systems of oppression. We also encourage contributions that seek to improve methodological and conceptual instruments for capturing intersectional power dynamics in institutional politics and social movements.