Still waiting for the hand to be raised: On being crip killjoys at an ableist university
2022 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation only (Other academic)
Abstract [en]
This paper is based on collaborative autoethnography about being disabled in contemporary working life. It draws from the two authors’ (Elisabet Apelmo and Camilla Nordgren) experiences as instructors and researchers at a Swedish university and focuses on examples of inaccessibility in everyday situations. Disabled people are underrepresented in academia and disabled academics are hindered from fully participating. We find ableist structures and practices within working life and the current neoliberal organisation, together with the individualisation of work environment problems and diffuse responsibility, as the main obstacles to accessibility. The paper opens up a critique of hindrances to accessibility within the academic walls. It is proposed that the focus be shifted from the problematised outsider to how ableism, built on the idea of the normal worker, excludes. While waiting for the person responsible for accessibility to raise his or her hand, one way of achieving change is to become crip killjoys, and thus pay attention to injustice.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2022.
Keywords [en]
collaborative autoethnography, disability, accessibility, inclusion, working life, universities, open-plan offices, ableism, crip theory
Keywords [sv]
kollaborativ autoetnografi, funktionshinder, tillgänglighet, inkludering, arbetsliv, universitet, kontorslandskap, ableism, cripteori
National Category
Social Work Gender Studies
Research subject
Health and society; Arbete och organisation
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-56689OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-56689DiVA, id: diva2:1719173
Conference
NORA Conference 2022: Tensions and Potentials in Nordic Feminist and Gender Research, June 20-22, University of Oslo, Norway.
2022-12-142022-12-142024-06-11Bibliographically approved