Intersectionality in Social Movements: A Critical Literature Review

Abstract

The Women's March on Washington in 2017 was remarkable in its success at bringing together a variety of groups with intersectional identities to mobilize in protest. Just two years later, however, the same movement has faltered in terms of its turnout and organizational support, leading many news outlets to conclude that it had run its course. Despite this stark contrast in outcomes, little to no work has been done to investigate what exactly it was in 2017 that was missing in 2019. This reflects a broader scholarly lacuna vis-à-vis the emergence of intersectional social movements. The central purpose of this paper is, therefore, to answer the following question: what factors determine the emergence of a social movement whose participants have intersectional identities?

Keywords: Social Movements, Intersectionality, Mobilization, Women, Gender Studies