Chapter 3: Intersectionality and the Production of Space: Lefebvre, Rhythmanalysis and SocialJustice in Education

This chapter brings intersectionality approaches into conversation with a particular analysis of space and its social production. Its purpose in doing so is to contribute to debates on how we might best understand the multiple social processes that produce educational inequalities, with a view to working towards greater social justice. As theoretical approaches, both intersectionality and spatial analysis involve multi-stranded and complex debates, and bringing them together runs the risk of theoretical confusion. Nonetheless, the conversation I propose is intended to supplement the research approaches of intersectionality through a specific engagement with spatial theory.

To begin the engagement, a comment about intersectionality is appropriate. The growing literature on intersectionality illustrates a wide range of theoretical and conceptual differences, as well as differences in research approaches. The literature shows contours of debates marked by different contexts at different times. In spite of this wide variation, this literature does, nonetheless, address a common problematic. It recognizes that social inequalities are seldom unitary in their causes, manifestations and consequences, and—crucially—it positions itself against these inequalities and their perpetuation. How to understand and work against social inequalities in their complex conjunctions, multiple interactions and relational forms, is the major challenge that intersectionality poses for educational researchers (see Grant & Sleeter, 1986; Grant & Zwier, 2011).