first quarter overview

I can't believe first quarter is already over! It feel simultaneously like we just began this study and like we've been discussing the subject for months. In a way, we have been discussing it for months, because both Mrs. Lawson and I veer toward these topics without really thinking about it, even in casual conversation.

First quarter has really been about building a foundation for the independent study as a whole. I read the introduction and the first part of The Intersectional Approach (Foundations of Intersectionality), which included topics like the politics of personal experience, the individual vs. the collective, and the argument that social divisions are irreducible.

As for Mrs. Lawson and I, we delved into questions/topics we ourselves had an interest in: the role of the intersectional approach beyond the academy, if the intersectional approach the best way to achieve "radical interconnectivity" among human beings, the role of religion and culture (in tandem with home environments/nations) in identity defining and politics, and the idea of privacy and how it may hinder putting broad laws into place. Additionally, Mrs. Lawson showed me that it is really difficult to pass legislature like the ERA and the Equal Nondiscrimination Act because "eliminating all discrimination can actually aid groups like all-men or all-white clubs in remaining separate. As we know historically, separate but equal isn't a thing.

From general topics, I decided stricter structure would help keep the independent study on track (towards writing papers !!). Mrs. Lawson suggested I spend some time researching race, gender, and law (focused on levels of scrutiny) separately and in relation to one another. To supplement my independent (ha) research, we both read Intersectionality and the Risk of Flattening Difference: Gender and Race Logics, and the Strategic Use of Antiracist Singularity in The Intersectional Approach. I highly enjoyed this essay and it's argument about utilization of the flexibility of intersectionalism and the ineffectiveness of "color blindness". As we wrap up first quarter and look forward to second quarter, I plan to study the construction of gender in history, the way imperialism is highly gendered using Joan Wallach Scott's Gender and the Politics of History, and the relationship between gender and globalization (how do they affect one another? do they?).

Two major topics in our study that I'd like to continue (as developed this quarter) are how language is shared across groups and generations (enough so for productive discussion) and the debate between oppression and discrimination.