Intersectionality, British criminology and race: Are we there yet?
| Author | Alpa Parmar |
| Date | 01 February 2017 |
| Published date | 01 February 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1362480616677496 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1362480616677496
Theoretical Criminology
2017, Vol. 21(1) 35 –45
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1362480616677496
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Intersectionality, British
criminology and race:
Are we there yet?
Alpa Parmar
University of Oxford, UK
Abstract
Intersectionality is the study of overlapping social identities and related systems of
oppression, discrimination and domination. From an intersectional perspective, aspects
of a person’s identity, for example race, class and gender are understood to be enmeshed.
To understand how systemic injustice operates and is produced, a multi-dimensional
framework which captures how forms of oppression intersect and are shaped by one
another, is necessary. Although the merits of an intersectional approach in criminology
have been widely shown and discussed in US scholarship, within British criminology,
there have been few analyses that have implemented an intersectional lens – either
explicitly or implicitly. Correspondingly, close examination of the social construction of
race within the criminal justice system has been largely absent in British criminology. In
the following paper, I suggest that these two developments are co-constitutive – that
British criminology’s unwillingness to engage with race has resulted in the reticence
towards an intersectional approach and vice versa. This is both problematic and a
missed opportunity. At a time when much criminological research convenes around the
intersection of race, class, religion and gender, the absence of intersectional approaches
and the lack of discussion about the racializing consequences of the criminal justice
system serve to stymie meaningful debate and advancement of the field.
Keywords
Race, gender, class, intersectionality, British Asian, racialization
Corresponding author:
Alpa Parmar, Departmental Lecturer in Criminology, Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, Manor
Road Building, Manor Road, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, UK.
Email: alpa.parmar@crim.ox.ac.uk
677496TCR0010.1177/1362480616677496Theoretical CriminologyParmar
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