In this introductory chapter, I present a critical review of the literature on political polarization, organizing existing contributions into three groups: economic, political-ideological, and cultural approaches. I then argue that these approaches are insufficient for explaining a multidimensional transformation since they are monocausal. Accordingly, I outline the contours of a more comprehensive framework which conceptualizes polarization as a set of disputes between those whose intersectional situations worsened and those whose situations improved during the center-left governments led by Brazil’s Workers’ Party (2003–2016 and since 2023) and during the (far-)right governments of Michel Temer (2016–2018) and Jair Bolsonaro (2019–2022). These disputes remain contingent, since political choices are shaped not only by concrete losses and gains but also by the multiple ways in which these intersectional moves are interpreted and articulated.