What is Relevance? Defining Intersectional Praxis in Uruguay

Abstract

This article examines intersectional praxis via a focus on what constitutes relevant axes of difference. The author argues that a discussion of relevance should focus on two important issues: (1) which categories are of analytic importance and (2) those categories that activists consider relevant. This approach allows for activist debates over the most important social divisions in society while establishing some minimal number of axes that must be included to qualify activism as intersectional. In the Uruguayan case, gender and class constitute minimally important axes of difference; however, race and, less centrally, sexuality and ability constitute central points of debate.