Kathleen Wallace - Intersectionality and Social Groups

The purpose of the paper is to explore ways in which intersectional categories identify groups using Katherine Ritchie’s (2013, 2015, 2020) and Brian Epstein’s (2015, 2019) analyses of social groups. Social groups are structured around a dominant property or profile. I suggest that while Ritchie’s analysis of groups into two basic kinds, organized and feature, groups makes sense, I appeal to Epstein’s analysis of social groups in terms of “profiles” (constitution, anchoring, extra essentials, accident) for some additional conceptual machinery. I suggest a modification to Epstein’s analysis by proposing that intersectional racial and gender groups may have an “extra essentials” profile, that is, may have powers, rights, abilities and norms. Recognizing this provides a better basis for understanding how entrenched such groups are, and how membership in such groups impacts individuals.