There is a growing recognition that existing theories on, and approaches to, health inequities are limited in their ability to capture how these inequities are produced through changing, co-constituted, and intersecting effects of multiple forms of oppression. Intersectionality responds to this problem by considering the interactions and combined impacts of social locations and structural processes on the creation and perpetuation of inequities. It offers unique insights into, and possible solutions to, some of Canada’s most pressing health disparities.

This volume brings together Canadian activists, community-based researchers, and scholars from a range of disciplines to apply interpretations of intersectionality to health and organizational governance cases. By addressing specific health issues, this book advances methodological applications of intersectionality in health research, policy, and practice. Most importantly, it demonstrates that health inequities cannot be understood or addressed without the interrogation of power and diverse social locations and structures that shape lives and experiences of health.

Olena Hankivisky is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and co-director of the Institute for Critical Studies in Gender and Health at Simon Fraser University.

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