Feminist Archaeology - Ongoing Feminist Contributions To Archaeology - Intersectional Analysis

Intersectional Analysis

A common analytical technique employed by feminist (and some non-feminist) archaeologists is intersectional analysis, which, following the assertions of black feminists leading third-wave feminism in the U.S., maintains that gender cannot be accessed by itself but must be studied in conjunction with other forms of identity. In historical archaeology the linkage between gender, race, and class has been increasingly explored, but other aspects of identity, notably sexuality, have been examined as well in relation to gender. Intersectional analysis has not been limited to feminist archaeology, as illustrated by the prevalent use of gender-race-class as a means of exploring identity by historical archaeologists. Although many such studies have focused on white, middle-class women of the recent Anglo-American past, the articulation of gender with other aspects of identity is starting to be applied to Native American women and African Americans. The work of Kathleen Deagan on Spanish colonial sites in the US and Caribbean has pioneered a movement of study of gender in the Spanish colonies. The use of black feminist work, which calls to attention the inherent connectivity between gender and class in the U.S. has been an important step in advancing the use of intersectional analysis in archaeology.