Disability, Avoidance and the Academy: Challenging Resistance

213 Pages·2016·3.51 MB·English

by  David Bolt

Disability, Avoidance and the Academy
Disability is awidespread phenomenon, indeed a potentially universal one as
life expectancies rise. Within the academic world, it has relevance for all dis-
ciplines yet is often dismissed as a niche market or someone else’s domain.
This collection explores how academic avoidance of disability studies and
disability theory is indicative of social prejudice and highlights, conversely,
how the academy can and does engage with disability studies.
This innovativebook brings together work in the humanities and the social
sciences, and draws on the riches of cultural diversity to challenge institutional
anddisciplinaryavoidance.Dividedintothreeparts,thefirstlooksathow edu-
cational institutions and systems implicitly uphold double standards, which
can resultin negative experiences for staff and studentswho aredisabled. The
second part explores how disability studies inform and improve a number of
academic disciplines, from social work to performance arts. The final part
shows how more diverse cultural engagement offers a way forward for the
academy, demonstrating ways in which we can make more explicit the inter-
disciplinary significance of disability studies – and, by extension, disability
theory, activism, experience, and culture.
Disability, Avoidance and the Academy: Challenging resistance will interest
students and scholars of disability studies, education studies and cultural
studies.
David Bolt is Associate Professor of Disability and Education at Liverpool
Hope University, UnitedKingdom.Hecompleted hisPhD in2004at the Uni-
versity of Staffordshire. He has authored, edited, and guest edited numerous
worksaboutdisability,literaryrepresentation,culture,language,andeducation.
Claire Penketh is Principal Lecturer in Disability and Education at Liverpool
Hope University, United Kingdom. She completed her PhD in 2010 at Gold-
smiths College, Universityof London. She has authoredworkon disability, art
education, policy, and culture.
Routledge Advances in Disability Studies
New titles
Towards a Contextual Psychology of Disablism
Brian Watermeyer
Disability, Hate Crime and Violence
Edited by Alan Roulstone and Hannah Mason-Bish
Branding and Designing Disability
Reconceptualising Disability Studies
Elizabeth DePoy and Stephen Gilson
Crises, Conflict and Disability
Ensuring Equality
Edited by David Mitchell and Valerie Karr
Disability, Spaces and Places of Policy Exclusion
Edited by Karen Soldatic, Hannah Morgan and Alan Roulstone
Changing Social Attitudes Toward Disability
Perspectives from historical, cultural, and educational studies
Edited by David Bolt
Disability, Avoidance and the Academy
Challenging Resistance
Edited by David Bolt and Claire Penketh
Forthcoming titles
Intellectual Disability and Social Theory
Philosophical Debates on Being Human
Chrissie Rogers
Disabled Childhoods
Monitoring Differences and Emerging Identities
Janice McLaughlin, Emma Clavering and Edmund Coleman-Fountain
Disability, Avoidance and
the Academy
Challenging resistance
Edited by
David Bolt and Claire Penketh
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Firstpublished2016
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Disability,avoidance,andtheacademy:challengingresistance/editedby
DavidBoltandClairePenketh.
p.;cm.--(Routledgeadvancesindisabilitystudies)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
I.Bolt,David,1966-,editor.II.Penketh,Claire,editor.III.Series:
Routledgeadvancesindisabilitystudies.
[DNLM:1.DisabledPersons.2.Research--education.3.Health
Knowledge,Attitudes,Practice.4.SocialPerception.5.SociologicalFactors.
HV1568.2]
HV1568.2
362.4--dc23
2015013004
ISBN:978-1-138-85866-4(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-71780-7(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of figures vii
List of contributors viii
Acknowledgement xi
Introduction: avoidance, the academy, and activism 1
DAVIDBOLT
1 Disability, diversity, and diversion: normalization and avoidance
in higher education 9
DAVIDT.MITCHELL
2 Disabling policies and exclusionary infrastructures: a critique of
the AAUP report 21
SUSHILK.OSWAL
3 ‘Crippled inside?’ Metaphors oforganisational learning difficulty 33
JOELPETRIE
4 Avoiding new literacies: ideology, dyslexia, and perceived deficits 45
OWENBARDEN
5 School textbooks and the avoidance of disability: emptied of
representation 57
ALANHODKINSON
6 Lessons in critical avoidance: disability studies and ‘special
educational needs’ 68
CLAIREPENKETHANDLAURAWAITE
7 Words for dignity: from Budapest to Berkeley and back 79
RITAHOFFMANNANDMARIAFLAMICH
8 Validating critical avoidance: professional social work, mental
health service users/survivors, and the academy 89
KATHYBOXALLANDPETERBERESFORD
vi Contents
9 Servicescapes, people, brands, and marketing management:
looking to the future of consumer disability research through
disability studies 99
TOMCOOGANANDROBERTCLULEY
10 Literary disability studies in creative writing: a practical
approach to theory 112
CATHNICHOLS
11 Fabulous invalids together: why disability in mainstream
theater matters 122
ANNM.FOX
12 Ahimsa and the ethics of caring: Gandhi’s spiritual experiments
with truth via the idea of avulnerable human body 133
HEMACHANDRANKARAH
13 Disability studies and modern responses to Stefan Zweig’s
Beware of Pity: critics’ avoidance 143
EMMELINEBURDETT
14 Avoiding disability in Scottish literary studies? Scottish studies,
ablenationalism, and beyond 153
ARIANNAINTRONA
15 How I can go on: embracing modernity’s displeasure with
Beckett’s Murphy 164
CHRISEWART
16 Signifying Otherness in modernity: the subject of disability
in The Sun Also Rises and The Sound and The Fury 177
WILLKANYUSIK
Epilogue: the space of avoidance 188
CLAIREPENKETH
Index 192
Figures
9.1 Strands of consumer disability research 102
9.2 Revised model of strands of consumer disability research 109
Contributors
Owen Barden is Lecturer in Disability and Education at Liverpool Hope Uni-
versity,UnitedKingdom.HecompletedhisEdDin2011attheUniversityof
Sheffield.Hehasauthoredanumberofarticlesandchaptersaboutdisability,
digitally-mediatedsocialnetworks,andemergingliteracypractices.
Peter Beresford OBE is Professor of Social Policy at Brunel University
London, United Kingdom. He completed his PhD in 1997 at Middlesex
University. He has authored numerous books, chapters, and articles about
disability,welfare,communitycare,palliativecare,socialwork,andmental
health service use.
David Bolt isAssociateProfessorofDisabilityandEducationatLiverpoolHope
University,UnitedKingdom.HecompletedhisPhDin2004attheUniversity
of Staffordshire. He has authored, edited, and guest edited numerous works
aboutdisability,literaryrepresentation,culture,language,andeducation.
Kathy Boxall is Professor of Social Work and Disability Studies at Edith
Cowan University, Western Australia. She completed her PhD in 2004 at
the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. She has authored numer-
ous articles and chapters about disability, social work, education, policy,
and mental health service use.
Emmeline Burdett is an independent scholar based in the United Kingdom.
She completed her PhD in 2011 at University College London. She has
authored chapters and articles about disability, history, and culture.
Robert Cluley is Assistant Professor in Marketing at the University of
Nottingham, United Kingdom. He completed his PhD in 2010 at the
University of Leicester. He has authored a number of articles about
management and consumption.
Tom Coogan is Teaching Fellow in Management at the University of
Birmingham, United Kingdom. He completed his PhD in 2008 at the
University of Leicester. He has authored and guest edited a number of
works about disability, comedy, life writing, and culture.
List of contributors ix
Chris Ewart is Adjunct Professorof English at Fairleigh Dickinson University,
Canada.Hecompleted his PhDin2014at Simon Fraser University. Hehas
authoredworkon disability, culture, and creative writing.
Maria Flamich is an independent scholar based in Hungary. She completed
her most recent MA in 2007 at Corvinus University of Budapest. She has
authoredworkon disability, culture, and education.
Ann M. Fox is Professor of English at Davidson College, United States.
She completed her PhD in 1998 at Indiana University, Bloomington. She
has authored numerous articles about disability, drama, culture, and
gender.
AlanHodkinsonisAssociateProfessorofDisabilityandEducationatLiverpool
Hope University, United Kingdom. He completed his PhD in 2003 at the
University of Lancaster. He has authored numerous works about disability,
special educational needs, and inclusion.
Rita Hoffmann is an independent scholar based in Hungary. She completed
her most recent MA in 2007 at Corvinus University of Budapest. She has
authoredworkon disability, culture, and education.
Arianna Introna is a PhD candidate at the University of Stirling, United
Kingdom. She completed her MA in 2012. She has authored work on
disability and Scottish culture.
Will Kanyusik is Assistant Professor of English at Loras College, United
States. He completed his PhD in 2013 at the University of Minnesota. He
has authoredworkon disability, literature, and film.
Hemachandran Karah is Assistant Professor at The Center for the Study of
DevelopingSocieties,India.HecompletedhisPhDin2011attheUniversity
of Cambridge, United Kingdom. He has authored work on disability,
culture, and philosophy.
David T. Mitchell is Professor of English at George Washington University,
UnitedStates.HecompletedhisPhDin1993attheUniversityofMichigan.
He has authored, edited, guest edited, and directed numerous works on
disability, education, literature, culture, and history.
Cath Nichols is Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of
Leeds, United Kingdom. She completed her PhD in 2011 at the
University of Lancaster. She has authored work on disability and crea-
tive writing.
Sushil K. Oswal is Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences
at the University of Washington, United States. He completed his PhD in
1994 at the University of Cincinnati. He has authored and guest edited
workon disability, accessible design, and usability studies.