Figure 1. Intersectionality wheel. Extracted from (15).
Figure 1
Table 1: Key elements of intersectionality. Extracted from (13).
Focus of intersectionality What it is... What it is not...
Social inequality Based on mutually constituted and intersecting social categories Based on adding up advantages and subtracting disadvantages assuming equivalence between them
Dynamic nature of inequality A way of understanding inequalities as dynamic relationships A static examination of inequalities that omits relational aspects
Contextual dependency Based on the understanding that power configurations are time and location dependent A group of a priori assumptions regarding the importance of any one or multiple social categories
Structural and political context Focus on structural and political factors that shape inequalities Focus on individual behaviour without consideration of structural and political constraints
Power relations Explores how social inequalities are shaped by power relations Ignores the impact of power relations on social inequalities
Implications for most disadvantaged Focus on implications for vulnerable and marginalized within a group Focus on implications for those whose status are protected or elevated with a group
Researcher reflexivity Researchers reflect upon how their own background identity shapes research process and interpretation of results Researchers attempt to completely remove themselves from the research and analysis process

From an intersectionality perspective, inequality is never the result of a single, distinct factor. Rather inequality is the outcome of intersections of an individual’s characteristics, power relations and experiences with the social systems and structures of power they are embedded in.