ABSTRACT
Widely disseminated, in platforms both academic and commercial, intersectional theory has found its way into co-curricular dialogue groups, community events, and coalitions of student activists through, among other sources, the praxis of college educators. Hearing Staceyann Chin’s reminder that “all oppression is connected” shared in student spaces, however, does not necessarily mean that this understanding has taken radical root. This chapter centers around the pedagogical efforts of co-curricular staff to support a coalition of student activists after a disappointing setback threatened to unravel their alliance. The student coalition to be discussed brought together leaders representing queer student organizations, cultural groups and student unions, religious affinity groups, and multicultural center student staff. Using Sara Ahmed’s concept of “fragile relations,” I explore what it means pedagogically to support the difficult work of solidarity: asking with what attitudes educators approach this work and exploring possibilities for leaning in to relations of solidarity that are always forming, transforming, and reforming. Then, drawing from Heather Love’s concept of “feeling backward” as a way of thinking about queer anger and its role in coalition, I argue that intersectional pedagogies need to be continually redeployed with respect to students’ affective relations. These pedagogies must engage anger, disappointment and other ‘negative’ emotions that emerge when engaging in activism. In the final part of this chapter, I will reflect on the experiences of participants, and the outcomes of pedagogical intervention on individual participants and their coalition. Intersectionality is not merely a critical heuristic but a continual experience of oppression. To ignore these changing experiences, to try and freeze an intersectional coalition in place, so to speak, only causes the coalition to become more fragile.
