Intersectional Representation: Theory and Practice

Chapter 2 describes the intersectional representation framework theoretically and empirically. The theoretical framework of the book is innovative in two ways. First, it combines more intersectional identities than ever explored together: gender, religion, and nationality (Arab Palestinian in Israel, Arab Palestinian as part of the Arab world, Palestinian). Second, the context of this intersectional representation is a diverse society that faces challenges other countries do not face: a democracy under constant attack from the Arab world, a country without defined borders surrounded by hostile terrorist organizations and one country (Iran) that believes that Israel does not have the right to exist. The general hypothesis that guides the analysis of the book is that, Arab Palestinian legislators engage in shape-shifting to varying degrees when representing their intersectional identities based on their religion, their gender and their opposition/coalition affiliation. The chapter also presents the innovative method for collecting and analyzing the data; the content analyzed contains all the parliamentary talks that took place on the floor of the Knesset, for a longer period than most previous studies. The author uses a mixed research method to create a comprehensive picture of the intersectional representation of Arab Palestinian legislators in Israel.