Feminist and Racial Justice Movement Organizations in Lisbon and Los Angeles - Assessing Intersectional Strategies of Resistance and Solidarity

Sexual and racial violence tend to be experienced in tandem. But it is unclear how recent social movements, such as Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the MeToo explore racial and gender oppression to rethink violence and activism in an intersectional way. This paper compares how overlapping forms of violence are politicized and framed in feminist and racial justice movement organizations in two distinct political contexts: Lisbon and Los Angeles. We look at how local movement organizations actively involved in collective actions address issues of racial and gender justice. These organizations vary in scope and size and include feminist, anti-racist, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ organizations. By analyzing the main claims and framing of these local organizations our aim is two-fold. First, to understand how movement organizations at the local level resist racism and sexism by grasping the interlocking nature of violence. Second, we aim to establish how local movement organizations redefine violence as both victimization and agency, connecting their collective actions to the broader, and global, BLM and MeToo movements. We argue that intersectionality is practiced by activists and organizations in a contentious process through the re-construction of feminist and anti-racist identities and political framings.