INTERSECTIONAL MARXISM
Intersectional Marxism is a framework that combines the insights of Marxism with the theory of intersectionality. This approach seeks to understand how different forms of oppression—such as racism, sexism, class exploitation, and more—intersect and reinforce one another. By bringing these two theories together, intersectional Marxism offers a deeper understanding of how power operates in capitalist society and how we can work toward liberation for all.
Marxism refers to the ideas of Karl Marx, who believed that all societies are divided into social and economic classes. There are the wealthy owners, called capitalists or bourgeoisie. Then there are those who do not own and are forced to laborer for their survival, called proletarians or working class. These are the two main classes, but there is also the petit-bourgeoisie, which refers to small business owners, managers, professionals, and the rest of what we now call the middle class. At the very bottom are the lumpen-proletariat, which meant below the working class.
In Marxism, exploitation is a key idea that helps explain how capitalists benefit at the expense of the working class. When workers produce goods or provide services, it’s their labor that creates all the economic value. But the capitalist have the power to pay workers whatever, including only just enough to survive and keep working, while pocketing most of the profits for themselves.
This means that while the workers do all the hard work, they remain poor and struggle to make ends meet, while the capitalists become richer. Exploitation shows how capitalism creates a system where, generation after generation, a small number of people keep most of the power and money. At the same time, it forces more and more people to work harder, while still having to fight for basic needs like food, housing, and healthcare.
Marxists believe that we need a revolution to overthrow capitalism, replacing it with a socialist system where everyone collectively owns the economy, makes decisions democratically over how it’s governed, and shares wealth equally, communally. Marxism, with its focus on class and economic exploitation, and intersectionality, with its emphasis on the interconnected nature of oppression, are not competing theories but complementary ones.
Intersectionality is a term that helps us understand how different parts of a person’s identity—like race, gender, and class—can overlap and affect their experiences. For example, a Black woman’s exploitation may be different than that of a white woman or a Black man. This is because she experiences both racism and sexism at the same time as exploitation. Intersectionality teaches us that these identities do not just add up; they work together in ways that shape how people experience reality, including exploitation and oppression.
Marxism helps us understand how capitalism creates and maintains exploitation, while intersectionality reveals how this exploitation is experienced differently based on race, gender, sexuality, and other forms of identity. Together, these theories provide a more complete picture of oppression and how it operates in the world. Other Marxist approaches tend to be focused on class alone, not only ignoring how other forms of oppression shape people’s lives, but often in such a way that end up reinforcing systems of oppression and undermining the movement for socialist revolution.
