Marjolein Dennissen

63 An intersectional analysis of diversity networks 2006). Political intersectionality allows to move away from the individual level of analysis and to theorize about identity categories as “axes of multiple inequalities” (Cole, 2008, p. 450) that mutually define, shape, and reinforce one other. For example, using political intersectionality, Crenshaw (1991) shows the political struggles of women of color whose concerns were neither addressed by feminist movements nor by antiracist movements. Crenshaw (1991) argues that “the failure of feminism to interrogate race (…) will often replicate and reinforce the subordination of people of color, and the failure of antiracism to interrogate patriarchy means that antiracism will frequently reproduce the subordination of women” (p. 1252). Especially in the field of management and organization studies, there is a lack of theoretical consideration of political intersectionality (Verloo, 2009). Intersectionality scholars such as Carastathis (2013), Cole (2008) and Verloo (2006) have demonstrated the potential of this dimension of intersectionality. Political intersectionality allows to take into account how intersectionality is important for organizational policies and how social identity groups organize themselves between two or more political agendas or movements. According to Crenshaw (1995), “any attempt to mobilize identity is a negotiation, a discussion among those in identity groups to put forth an agenda that fully recognizes the various political interests, conflicting though they may be, that exist within identity categories” (p. 12). She proposes to reconceptualize social identity groups as “potential coalitions waiting to be formed” (p. 1299). This requires an emphasis on common experiences and political strategies, highlighting the possibilities of working together across multiple categories of difference (Carastathis, 2013; Cole, 2008). Cole (2008) uses political intersectionality to illustrate how different social identity groups succeed in building successful coalitions based on their shared marginalized positions. An example of such a coalition is the organization of the 2004 March for Women’s Lives in the US. The initial idea of the March was to demonstrate in favor of (predominantly white) women’s rights to abortion. Alternatively, the focus of the March was broadened beyond abortion rights, including the reproductive concerns of women of color as well (Cole, 2008). Thus, the concept of political intersectionality offers a unique opportunity to study diversity networks as “potential coalitions waiting to be formed”. By conceptualizing diversity networks as possible coalitions, I analyze the political strategies of diversity networks to build coalitions for equality across single identity categories. Methodology Research design Studying intersectionality empirically is challenging. A proper intersectional methodology should be able to take into account “the methodological murkiness” (Nash, 2008, p. 5) and “the complexity that arises when the subject of analysis expands to include multiple (…) categories of analysis” (McCall, 2005, p. 1772). McCall (2005) addresses these methodological