To achieve social justice, organizations and their policies need to apply an intersectional approach, rather than addressing inequalities separately, research has shown. However, intersectionality is a challenging theory to apply, as policy makers and practitioners often have to navigate the confines of divided policy areas.

A new book written by Dr. Ashlee Christoffersen, a Banting Postdoctoral Researcher at York University examines the use of intersectionality in UK policy and practice with a specific focus on non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), outlining five distinct interpretations of intersectional practice and their applications.

“This research program developed from my experience of working, as a white, settler Canadian, migrant, practitioner in a Black-led LGBTQ community development organization in London, UK,” Christoffersen says. “I represented the organization on a London-wide network bringing together different kinds of equity-seeking NGOs.

Because of the policy context in the UK at the time, “practitioners around me were grappling with how we could work intersectionally.” She says she sought to better understand how practitioners could, in order to share learning across equality organisations and networks UK-wide and internationally.

The book is based on her PhD research, completed at the University of Edinburgh. However, she says, it also connects to the Banting fellowship that she is now doing similar research here at York, in comparison to the UK.

Her research was the first empirical study internationally to explore how both practitioners and policymakers themselves understand how to operationalize intersectionality and the first in-depth exploration of intersectionality’s applications in the UK.

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