Intersectionality and UK Equality Initiatives

This article considers the viability of intersectionality as an analytical and strategic tool within the context of recent UK equality initiatives, in particular expansion of the grounds upon which a discrimination claim can be based, the establishment of a new single equality body, the Commission of Equality and Human Rights (CEHR), and the anticipated streamlining of equality legislation. The article contends that while intersectionality has played an important role in widening the terms of the debate around equality law and discourse, it has limited long-term purchase in the battle to combat inequality. The article considers the ways in which the concept of intersectionality has been deployed and explores current UK equality developments with an intersectional dimension. The article concludes with an analysis of the limits of intersectionality as a path to equality through law.