Researching intersectionality in media studies: Theoretical approaches, methods and applications in communication and media research practice

Abstract

Intersectionality is a critical approach to theorizing and exploring the interlocking of social inequality categories such as gender, race, ethnicity, class and sexuality in various levels of policies, social discourses, institutions and subject positionings. While social discourses do not arise in isolation from an all-encompassing media world, media, as co-producers of social power relations, are particularly interesting for the concept of intersectionality. However, the intersectional approach is rather a research field at the margins of German communication studies. This article discusses the theoretical prerequisites and methodological implications of intersectionality and provides examples of how an empirical implementation is possible in media research.