Has intersectionality reached its limits? Intersectionality in the UN human rights treaty body practice and the issue of ambivalence

Abstract

In recent decades, the concept of intersectionality occupied an important place in the practice of United Nation's human rights treaty bodies. A concept devised to provide a more nuanced way of capturing the multi-faceted experiences of oppression, intersectionality was widely thought to be an effective tool to address discrimination against an individual's multiple identities. Yet a careful examination of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies practice reveals that this is not always the case. This article explores the significance and limitations of intersectionality in the practice of those treaty bodies. Drawing on the debates concerning the legality of recent bans on religious expression, it further explores the potential application of the concept in situations of 'ambivalence', that is, where individuals embrace a mixed feeling towards two seemingly conflicting identities.