Taking Action on Stigma and Discrimination: An Intersectionality-Informed Model of Social Inclusion and Exclusion

Authors

  • Gemma Hunting Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy, Simon Fraser University
  • Daniel Grace Postdoctoral Researcher, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Visiting Fellow, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in London, United Kingdom
  • Olena Hankivsky Professor, School of Public Policy; Founder and Director of the Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver Canada; Research Chair in New Perspectives in Gender and Health (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and Senior Scholar in Population Health (Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research).

Keywords:

social inclusion, social exclusion, intersectionality, mental health, substance use

Abstract

Social inclusion has increasingly been positioned within research and policy as integral to addressing stigma and discrimination related to mental health and substance use. Yet there is a lack of consensus about the meaning of social inclusion and how this concept can be applied to understand the broader social contexts that influence health and inequity. In this paper, we respond to a recently developed model of social inclusion for mental health and substance use in British Columbia (BC), Canada, by proposing an alternative model: an Intersectionality-Informed Model of Social Inclusion and Exclusion. Drawing on the BC model, we demonstrate what we see as key limitations of current conceptualizations of social inclusion and highlight the ways in which the proposed model extends, improves, and complicates understandings of social inclusion. We argue that this inquiry is a necessary precursor to better addressing the complexities of stigma, discrimination, and social exclusion, and in so doing, to promoting social inclusion and equity.

Author Biographies

Daniel Grace, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Visiting Fellow, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in London, United Kingdom

Dr. Grace is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of British Columbia and a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His current research focuses on the experiences of gay and bisexual men in British Columbia who have received a recent or acute HIV diagnosis. Dr. Grace also conducts transnational ethnographic research on the ways in which legislative environments may act as complex determinants of health.

Olena Hankivsky, Professor, School of Public Policy; Founder and Director of the Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver Canada; Research Chair in New Perspectives in Gender and Health (Canadian Institutes of Health Research) and Senior Scholar in Population Health (Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research).

Dr. Hankivsky is trained as a political scientist. Her research interests are focused on social and health policy. She is an internationally recognized expert in gender mainstreaming, gender based analysis and intersectionality-based analysis. Her recent publications include Health Inequities in Canada: Intersectional Frameworks and Practices (University of British Columbia Press, 2011), Gender, Politics and Society in Ukraine (University of Toronto Press, 2012), and An Intersectionality Based Policy Analysis Framework (Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy, 2012).

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Published

2015-06-23

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2015): Intersectionalities

Section

Articles

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