ABSTRACT
Race, class, and gender matter because they continue to structure society in ways that value some lives more than others. A matrix of domination sees social structure as having multiple, interlocking levels of domination that stem from the societal configuration of race, class, and gender relations. Studying interconnections among race, class, and gender within a context of social structures helps us understand how race, class, and gender are manifested differently, depending on their configuration with the others. The matrix of domination approach to race, class, and gender studies is historically grounded. Systems of race, class, and gender have been so consistently and deeply codified in US laws that they have had intergenerational effects, on economic, political, and social institutions. Race, class, and gender matter because they remain the foundations for systems of power and inequality that, despite our nation's diversity, continue to be among the most significant social facts of people's lives.
