Complexifying intersectionality: queer perspectives on the world of labour

Abstract

The notion of intersectionality made it possible to complexify the understanding of the processes of domination and resistance in contemporary societies by understanding oppressions as co-constitutive, articulated and nonhierarchical, at least a priori. In the historiography on labor, this perspective has focused especially the crossings of the dominations and discriminations of gender, race-ethnicity and class. However, there is still very little research on workers with sexuality deviant from heteronormative patterns. Less visible even by the very character of secret that historically constitutes them, the experiences of these sexual deviants, and the speeches that configure them are also constitutive of the world of labor. It is sufficient to think, for example, of the socially established “queer professions” (such as hairdressers, stylists, flight attendants and nurses) or reinforcing heteronormativity in trade union and political activism, with their explicit or veiled demands to values related to hegemonic masculinities. This article intends to call attention to the importance of taking into account this analytical perspective, as well as to point out some possible historiographic and methodological paths for its effectiveness.