Joint purpose? Intersectionality in the hands of anti-racist and gender equality activists in Europe

Starting from Crenshaw´s point that antiracism often fails to interrogate patriarchy and that feminism often reproduces racist practices (1991: 1252), this paper asks: What are the theoretical reasons for believing that feminism and anti-racism can be regarded as fighting for the joint purpose of anti-discrimination in Europe today? And what empirical evidence may be found for such a joint approach? The paper discusses how the contemporary EU context differs from the American context which prompted Crenshaw to raise the point about intersectionality, and it analyses documents and interviews from each of the two European umbrella organisations the European Women´s Lobby and the European Network against Racism, as well as a number of their national member organisations from across Europe, both within EU and non-EU member states.