EPISTEMOLOGY OF GENDER INTERSECTIONALITY: INTEGRATIVE REVIEW OF CONTEXTUAL CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES (1995–2025)

Abstract

This paper offers an integrative review of the literature on the epistemology of gender intersectionality between 1995 and 2025, aiming to identify theoretical contributions, contextual challenges, and new perspectives. Twenty-four studies were analyzed from an initial set of 312 records, based on inclusion criteria that consider scientific relevance, peer review, and intersectionality as a critical epistemology. The results show that the concept has progressed from a nascent analytical tool in the 1990s to a firmly established epistemology, connecting different axes of oppression, such as gender, race, class, sexuality, and coloniality. Among the main challenges identified are the depoliticization and superficial appropriation of the concept, internal conceptual and methodological conflicts, and the lasting effects of neoliberalism and coloniality. On the other hand, transformative visions grounded in Black feminisms and decolonial approaches emerge, recognizing peripheral and Global South knowledges, suggesting intersectionality as a tool for social and cognitive justice. The conclusion is that, despite being established as a global critical epistemology, intersectionality remains susceptible to appropriations that undermine its political character. It is essential to reaffirm it as an ethical-political project focused on overcoming structural inequalities and generating multiple and liberating knowledges.