Intersectional embodiment and power: Distributions of differences and formations of individualities in an embodiment perspective

Through almost two decades the term ‘intersectionality' has gained influence in post colonial studies, gender studies, feminist theory and other research fields occupied with how social differences are distributed and how individuals are socially constructed  in stratified societies. The ‘intersectional' perspective creates a focus on the coexistence and mutual formation of different kinds of social difference in the construction of the individual social position. The concept of habitus as it was coined by Pierre Bourdieu has been an inspiration for some of this research. However, the focus on the embodiment of social dispositions and the social formation of the individual as body inherent in Bourdieu's work have not yet gained weight in this development within ‘difference research'. It might not come to much surprise as the radical sociology of embodiment implicit in the theory of habitus does not seem to gain much attention in social stratification research in general. In our paper we will present our work on an embodied approach to intersectionality, which is inspired by Pierre Bourdieu and other thinkers of embodiment. We will argue for the importance of a focus on the embodiment of social differences and discuss the implications this has for our understanding of power relations.