The Sociology Book

93

counts—being black and female—
but fell through a legal loophole.
They were the last to be hired and
the first to be laid off, but their
employers denied this had anything
to do with discrimination. When a
case went to court, the judge ruled
that they could not have been laid
off because they were women, as
other women still worked in the
firm. Neither could the reason have

been their color, as black men still

worked there. The law could only

deal with one or other form of

oppression, not the two together.

Hierarchy systems

bell hooks was to take the idea of

intersectionality still further. In The

Will to Change (2004), she says: “I

often use the phrase ‘imperialist

white-supremacist capitalist

patriarchy’ to describe the

interlocking political systems that

are the foundation of our nation’s

politics.” The phrase is used to

describe a set of systems that

combine to situate people within

the power hierarchies of society.

White supremacy is the

assumed superiority of lighter-

skinned or “white” races over

others. While hooks acknowledges

that “those who allow [racial]

prejudice to lead them to hostile

acts are in the minority no

matter the class standing of the

neighborhood,” racial prejudice

is still apparent in beliefs that

a person is lazy, stupid, or more

violent, for instance, because of

their racial background. This form

of stereotyping means that an

Indian doctor or Hispanic teacher

might be viewed as less competent

than white Europeans.

Capitalism refers to the

economic system that is

characterized by private or

corporate ownership of firms and

goods, together with control over

the prices, goods, and the labor

force. It has an inherent hierarchy:

those who own the means of

production and control the labor

force are privileged over the

workers. hooks agrees with the

US writer and prominent activist

Carmen Vázquez, who she ❯❯

See also: Harriet Martineau 26–27 ■ Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Judith Butler 56–61 ■ Friedrich Engels 66–67 ■
Paul Gilroy 75 ■ Elijah Anderson 82–83 ■ R.W. Connell 88–89 ■ Christine Delphy 312–17

SOCIAL INEQUALITIES

Intersections are hotspots

for motor collisions. Lawyer

Kimberelé Crenshaw uses

traffic as an analogy to show

how discrimination can have

multiple causes that are hard

to determine.

Second-wave feminism of the
1960s to 1980s, with its emphasis on
“sisterhood,” is criticized by hooks as
opportunistic and as representing the
interests of middle-class white women.

Race

Gender

Social class

Disability

It was clear to black

women... that they were

never going to have equality

within the existing white-

supremacist capitalist

patriarchy.

bell hooks