Intersectionality’s binding agent

Abstract

In this essay, I explore the structural distinctiveness of class domination as compared with intersecting structures of oppression framed by race, gender, sexuality, or other criteria. Social classes are not simply demographic groupings; they are (actual or potential) agents of history. The dominant class, in a given period, shapes the main contours of social existence in every dimension. Thus, members of all oppressed groups have an interest in unifying with each other—against the dominant class—on a common class basis. I discuss how the current awareness of such a common class interest has been obstructed by state repression, by identity politics, and by the ideology of postmodernism.