Thinking with Bevereley Skeggs - Stockholms universitet

The intersectionality approach to power and the experienceof organising structures to mobilise social constellationsoften become mediated by different kinds of emotions (Brah1996; Collins 2000; Ahmed 2004; Wise and Velayuthan2006). As Sara Ahmed shows, for example members of Naziorganisations become united in love with what they perceiveas the White Nation (Ahmed 2004). This kind of love reliesupon hate against no whites and creates even more disharmonyin society when it succeeds in mobilising a racist counterpartfrom immigrated constellations. Though it is a politics ofemotion it is not emancipatory for anybody.Paulo Freire (Araujo Freire 1998) tells us that we need amethodology for the oppressed to prevent us from reproducingoppression. This methodology would be interesting to matchwith gender mainstreaming when people are building socialalliances based on an emancipatory politics of emotion(Ahmed 2004), and as part of what Freire called A pedagogyof the City and a pedagogy of the Heart (Araujo Freire1998). A central question in this line is to elucidate whetherthe potential success of social alliances remains in terms ofthe edification of raw power or in terms of introducing realtransformations beyond reproducing oppression.My interest has been focused on elucidating whether theunderstanding of power can be used to mainstream itself in theruling power structures by reproducing its tactics oppressingothers; or if understanding power can lead to it being used inan emancipatory way. To advance an understanding of powerdeveloped in intersectionality approaches is, as Ahmed (2004)shows, not a guarantee for real emancipation. Although inspiredin feminist alliances, like transversal politics, not even buildinga social alliance per se can guarantee that goal either, if theapproach lacks a politics of emotion committed to contest modesof oppression and hate related to discrimination, segregation andracism.97