Final answer:
The quote in question is attributed to Judith Butler, who is renowned for her examination of gender as a social construct and performance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The quote "I'm permanently troubled by identity categories, consider them to be invariable stumbling-blocks, and understand them, even promote them, as sites of necessary trouble." is attributed to Judith Butler. Butler is a philosopher and gender theorist who critically examines the concept of gender. In her influential work, Gender Trouble, she articulates the idea that gender is a performance, an 'impersonation' where categorical norms and individual enactments of those norms interact. Identity categories, according to Butler, are constructs that can be both limiting and necessary for challenging the status quo and fostering discussions about identity. In her influential book Gender Trouble (1990), Butler describes gender as a performance rather than a set of naturalized categories. She argues that gender is a relation between categorical norms and individual performances of those norms. Butler believes that gender is a social construct and that individuals perform their gender identities based on societal expectations.