Matrix of Domination

First introduced by the sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, the matrix of domination is a concept that draws attention to the inherent complexity of privilege as it operates in social systems and shapes people's lives. The basic idea is that various forms of privilege—such as those based on race, gender, class, ethnicity, or sexual orientation—do not exist independently of one another in the social world or people's experience of themselves. Instead, various forms of privilege are related to one another in ways that make it difficult, if not impossible, to understand one without paying attention to its connection to the others.

In the simplest sense, in our lives as individuals, there is no social situation in which people perceive and treat us in terms of a single ...