Intersezionalità come teoria critica sociale

by Patricia Hill Collins

L'edizione italiana del testo di Patricia Hill Collins Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory, pubblicato nel 2019, propone a un pubblico di espert* e di persone interessate una delle voci più originali fra quelle che stanno animando il dibattito della comunità scientifica internazionale sul tema delle diseguaglianze sociali e sugli strumenti utili a individuarle, classificarle e interpretarle. La crescente complessità e rapidità di trasformazione della società contemporanea presenta caratteri a tal punto inediti che le scienze sociali sono chiamate ad aggiornare rapidamente i propri strumenti di analisi per assolvere alla funzione di studio dei fenomeni emergenti. Fra questi, le diseguaglianze sociali sono alla base di molti altri fenomeni e, grazie all'approntamento di mirati strumenti di indagine scientifica, l'Autrice giunge a definire con l'intersezionalità una vera e propria teoria critica della società capace di analizzare i processi sociali in atto e di farlo in modo innovativo rispetto alle teorie critiche tradizionali. Il paradigma dell'intersezionalità può essere pensato come un metodo per dare forma, interpretare e creare narrative e rappresentazioni sociali, uno strumento analitico per investigare i framework di genere e una pratica euristica femminista e postfemminista. La finalità ultima dell'opera che sfida chi la legge è quella di guardare forse meglio all'intersezionalità quale potenziale strumento per un'azione sociale necessaria a rendere più giusta/eguale/universale la società/il mondo.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Philosophy, Theory, Race, Sociology, Academic

464 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2022

About the author

Patricia Hill Collins (born May 1, 1948) is currently a Distinguished University Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also the former head of the Department of African American Studies at the University of Cincinnati, and the past President of the American Sociological Association Council.

Collins' work primarily concerns issues involving feminism and gender within the African-American community. She first came to national attention for her book Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, originally published in 1990.

Collins was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1948. The only daughter of a factory worker and a secretary, Collins attended the Philadelphia public schools.

After obtaining her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University in 1969, she continued on to earn a Master of Arts Degree in Teaching from Harvard University in 1970. From 1970 to 1976, she was a teacher and curriculum specialist at St Joseph Community School, among two others, in Boston. She continued on to become the Director of the Africana Center at Tufts University until 1980, after which she completed her doctorate in sociology back at Brandeis in 1984.

While earning her PhD, Collins worked as an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati beginning in 1982. In 1990, Collins published her first book, "Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment". A revised tenth anniversary edition of the book was published in 2000, and subsequently translated into Korean in 2009.
While working at Tufts, she married Roger L. Collins in the year 1977, a professor of education at the University of Cincinnati, with whom she has one daughter, Valerie L. Collins.

In 1990, Collins was the recipient of the prestigious C. Wright Mills Award. She was later awarded the Jessie Bernard Award by the American Sociological Association in 1993. For her book Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender and the New Racism (Routledge, 2005), she was presented the American Sociological Association Distinguished Scholarly Book Award in 2007.

Collins is recognized as a social theorist, drawing from many intellectual traditions; her more than 40 articles and essays have been published in a wide range of fields, including philosophy, history, psychology, and most notably sociology. Moreover, Collins was the recipient of a Sydney Spivack Dissertation Support Award.

The University of Cincinnati named Collins The Charles Phelps Taft Professor of Sociology in 1996, making her the first ever African-American, and only the second woman, to hold this position. She received emeritus status in the Spring of 2005, and became a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. The University of Maryland named Collins a Distinguished University Professor in 2006.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Curtis Chamblee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing work that needs to be shared. The writing is very accessible to almost anyone. This is a permanent fix on my bookshelf from now and after I receive my PhD.

[Isadora · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely well written and structured book, inciting critical questions and directions for intersectionality as a social theory, analytic, methodology and ethical approach.
Building on more than 30 years advancing Black feminist thought, Patricia Hill Collins sets up a new level of engaged debate, with rich tools and complex elements, for the social sciences and humanities. Not restricted to academic fields, the book shows how and why intersectionality is a key framework to further studies and emancipatory projects on / for social justice.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful, it explained a lot of things I've kind of struggled to figure out for years. And PHC has such clarity of expression that, while the ideas themselves are very dense and chewy, the prose was like biting into a crisp, refreshing apple.

[Alberto Grandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Molto interessante ma denso. Superficialmente può sembrare ripeta gli stessi concetti, ma in realtà si stratificano in maniera sempre differente.

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

un manuale di studio che si pone il difficile compito di spiegare cos'è oggi (e come si è evoluta) l'intersezionalità e, soprattutto, dove può (e deve) pensare di andare.
Molto interessante, spiegato in modo abbastanza chiaro per chi già mastica qualcosa di teorie sociali è senz'altro un manuale che può aprire una discussione.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have actually ever read. This might be biased because it's definitely one of the most difficult books I have ever read but it was extremely comprehensive and made this concept so clear.

[Paz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Very informative. After reading this book, you will not use the word intersectionality as an empty word to fill the silence again.

[Diana]

I love Collins's scholarship and thinking. This was a BIG LIFT for me to read. I'll have to revisit it.

[Mills College Library]

303.4 H6455 2019

[ASC Library]

303.4 Col

[David]

Mostly over my head but a lot of good stuff nonetheless.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent searching, thought-provoking read. I was back and forth between 4 and 5 stars, finally landing on 4 simply because I didn’t necessarily have any paradigm-shifting aha! Moments reading it as I have with other texts in this vein. But I think that’s probably a function of me needing to sit with the text a bit longer. Will be re-reading and is already informing my dissertation work.