Atmospheres of Ableism: A Phenomenological Exploration of Everyday Encounters
Faculty Mentor
Ryan Parrey
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
5-8-2024 11:15 AM
End Date
5-8-2024 1:00 PM
Location
PUB NCR
Primary Discipline of Presentation
Disability Studies and Universal Access
Abstract
Campbell and Nario-Redmond explain that ableism entails explicit and implicit biases that manifest at every level of social life. At the same time, Taussig describes ableism as "the atmosphere we breathe." Disability Studies scholarship has done much to identify how ableism operates in the everyday lives of disabled and non-disabled people alike; however, little work has been done to articulate it in terms of the atmospheric quality that Taussig discusses.
Building on Taussig's assessment of ableism in conjunction with Casey's similar articulation of the atmosphere of emotion, this paper addresses the findings of an online qualitative survey distributed to adults with physical disabilities. Participants answered a series of open-ended questions designed to identify the types of ableist encounters experienced in everyday life and the emotions that these encounters generate. This research employs a phenomenological lens to provide a more nuanced and in-depth description of ableism as a part of disabled people's everyday lived experience. This research contributes to the study of ableism, mainly how it operates within ongoing rhetoric and practices of inclusion, access, and support.
Recommended Citation
Parke, Kelly, "Atmospheres of Ableism: A Phenomenological Exploration of Everyday Encounters" (2024). 2024 Symposium. 15.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2024/ps_2024/p2_2024/15
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Atmospheres of Ableism: A Phenomenological Exploration of Everyday Encounters
PUB NCR
Campbell and Nario-Redmond explain that ableism entails explicit and implicit biases that manifest at every level of social life. At the same time, Taussig describes ableism as "the atmosphere we breathe." Disability Studies scholarship has done much to identify how ableism operates in the everyday lives of disabled and non-disabled people alike; however, little work has been done to articulate it in terms of the atmospheric quality that Taussig discusses.
Building on Taussig's assessment of ableism in conjunction with Casey's similar articulation of the atmosphere of emotion, this paper addresses the findings of an online qualitative survey distributed to adults with physical disabilities. Participants answered a series of open-ended questions designed to identify the types of ableist encounters experienced in everyday life and the emotions that these encounters generate. This research employs a phenomenological lens to provide a more nuanced and in-depth description of ableism as a part of disabled people's everyday lived experience. This research contributes to the study of ableism, mainly how it operates within ongoing rhetoric and practices of inclusion, access, and support.
