Using intersectionality to understand structural inequality in Scotland: evidence synthesis

9. Glossary

Context – the situation in which something exists or happens.

Intersectionality – is shaped by 3 key tenets: (1) people are shaped by their simultaneous membership of multiple interconnected social categories; (2) the interaction between multiple social categories occurs within a context of connected systems and structures of power; (3) structural inequalities are the outcomes of the interaction between social categories, power relations and contexts.

Intersectional approach - a way of identifying, understanding and tackling structural inequality in a given context that accounts for the lived experience of people with intersecting identities.

Intersectional data – data that takes into account two or more combinations of individual, social/cultural and environmental characteristics and, where the dataset allows, the context in which these combinations of characteristics give rise to relative advantage and disadvantage.

Power dynamics/relations – the way people or groups of people interact with each other where one person or group of people is more powerful than the other.

Protected characteristic – it is illegal to discriminate against someone based on these characteristics. They are: age, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, race, religion of belief, marriage and civil partnership, disability and pregnancy and maternity.

Social category – a group of people that have at least one characteristic or experience in common, such as ethnicity, disability, occupation, caring responsibilities.

Structural inequality – inequality that is embedded in social structures, based on institutionalised conceptions of differences based on, for example, gender, race, sexual orientation or disability.

Systems/structures of power – a way in which power is shared in a society, for example through politics, education or the economy.

Systems of oppression - discriminatory institutions, structures, and norms that are embedded in society. Examples include racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism.