Volume 12, 2001
The Future of Intersectionality and Critical Race Feminism
Conference Description
Date: October 6, 2000
The 1980's and 90's witnessed a surge in scholarly attention among legal academics to the legal status of women of color. Both traditional civil rights scholars and critical race theorists attempted to integrate into law and legal scholarship the experiences minority women. This work gave rise to the theory of "Intersectionality," which posited that African-American women share unique life experiences that differ from those of either African-American men or white women. The theory further asserted that this uniqueness makes a difference in how legal scholars deconstruct and reconstruct law. Critical Race Feminism extended this critique beyond the experiences of African-American women, focusing on how race, gender and class interact for women of color within a system of white male patriarchy and racist oppression.
Intersectionality and Critical Race Feminism have provided fresh perspectives on the analysis of issues in many legal settings, including employment law, criminal law, family law, and legal education. Political, economic and social changes and the more complex appreciation of the role of race, gender and class generated by these theories suggest a need for reconsideration of this research. The purpose of this symposium is to revisit the theoretical, doctrinal and practical possibilities of Intersectionality and Critical Race Feminism. The Conference will be organized around three broad themes. Consideration of each theme invites questions that the Conference speakers, commentators, moderators, and participants will explore.
1. The Class Dynamic in Intersectionality and Critical Race Feminism
During the last two decades of the twentieth century in the United States, minority communities have become more "middle- class." How does the increased presence of minorities in the middle class affect critiques or programmatic reforms?
2. Current Trends in Law and Adjudication as Applied to Intersectionality and Critical Race Feminism
For their work to have both doctrinal and theoretical relevance, Intersectionality theorists and Critical Race Feminists must attend to recent developments both in law, politics and law-related institutions. Included among these developments are: the continuing devolution of power and authority to state governments, "minimalism" in Supreme Court jurisprudence, the relative conservatism of the federal judiciary, the rise of conservative "think tanks" and litigation institutes, the rhetoric of merit, the resurgence of individualism, and cyberspace litigation (i.e., the growing use of the internet and other electronic technologies in the court system).
3. Methodological Concerns: The Care and Feeding of Empirical Research in Intersectionality and Critical Race Feminism
Although the scholarly output of Intersectionality theorists and Critical Race Feminists has been enhanced by empirical research, most would agree that even more attention should be paid to data collection, processing, and analysis. What are scholars currently doing in this area? What continuing promise does this work hold for scholarship, advocacy and legal reform? What problems arise when attempting to apply standard empirical models to communities of women of color? How are those problems being addressed in the research? How can empirical research be used (or misused)? How can new technologies aid in data collection, processing, and analysis?
This one-day Conference will bring together prominent legal scholars for paper presentations, commentary and questions. Papers generated by the participants will appear in the Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, which is published by the University of San Diego School of Law.
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