Ableism in Academia

Theorising experiences of disabilities and chronic illnesses in higher education

Edited by Nicole Brown and Jennifer Leigh

ISBN: 9781787354975

Publication: October 05, 2020

Open Access PDF £0.00 Hardback £45.00 Paperback £25.00

Download free

What is this?

Next ›

Rather than embracing difference as a reflection of wider society, academic ecosystems seek to normalise and homogenise ways of working and of being a researcher. As a consequence, ableism in academia is endemic. However, to date no attempt has been made to theorise experiences of ableism in academia.

Ableism in Academia provides an interdisciplinary outlook on ableism that is currently missing. Through reporting research data and exploring personal experiences, the contributors theorise and conceptualise what it means to be/work outside the stereotypical norm. The volume brings together a range of perspectives, including feminism, post-structuralism, such as Derridean and Foucauldian theory, crip theory and disability theory, and draw on the width and breadth of a number of related disciplines. Contributors use technicism, leadership, social justice theories and theories of embodiment to raise awareness and increase understanding of the marginalised; that is those academics who are not perfect. These theories are placed in the context of neoliberal academia, which is distant from the privileged and romanticised versions that exist in the public and internalised imaginations of academics, and used to interrogate aspects of identity, aspects of how disability is performed, and to argue that ableism is not just a disability issue.

This timely collection of chapters will be of interest to researchers in Disability Studies, Higher Education Studies and Sociology, and to those researching the relationship between theory and personal experience across the Social Sciences.

Praise for Ableism in Academia

'Has the potential to resonate with a wider audience, including other minority staff groups looking for an alternative range of theoretical perspectives within which to reflect on their experiences. The book could also be an important reference for colleagues who do not identify in any minority group except one that is silently struggling to reach the ‘superhuman’ (Campbell, 2020: 207) expectations of the academy.'

Critical Studies in Teaching & Learning (CriSTal)

'Personal and reflective ...All the authors artfully weaved their own experiences with disability into their academic writing in a way that I felt elevated this scholarly collection. This book still left me hopeful. “Collections like this one are necessary to bring into the public consciousness the matters of those who are marginalized” writes Brown in the introduction. I fully agree, and have no doubt this book will contribute to the growing conversation.'
Nature Chemistry

'An enriching source of knowledge regarding the personal experiences and attempts to theoretically conceptualise ableism in academia.'
Alter, European Journal of Disability Research

'Ableism in Academia is a valuable contribution to the literature for anyone looking to understand how ableism is experienced in academic settings, and the systems that allow it to exist and persist.'
Canadian Journal of Disability Studies

'readers interested in a broad overview on how ableism plays out in the academic setting as told by disabled academics of different backgrounds will enjoy reading this collection.'
Disability Studies Community Blog

Nicole Brown is Lecturer in Education and Academic Head of Learning and Teaching at UCL Institute of Education. Nicole's research interests relate to identity and body work, physical and material representations and metaphors, the generation of knowledge, and advancing learning and teaching within higher education. @ncjbrown @FibroIdentity @AbleismAcademia

Jennifer Leigh is Senior Lecturer at the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Kent. She initially trained as a chemist, teacher, and somatic movement therapist. Her research interests include embodiment, phenomenological and creative research methods, academic practice, educational development, and ableism in higher education. @drschniff @AbleismAcademia

List of figures and tables

List of contributors

Preface

Nicole Brown and Jennifer Leigh

Introduction: Theorising ableism in academia
Nicole Brown
1. The significance of crashing past gatekeepers of knowledge: Towards full participation of disabled scholars in ableist academic structures
Claudia Gillberg
2. I am not disabled: Difference, ethics, critique and refusal of neoliberal academic selves
Francesca Peruzzo
3. Disclosure in academia: A sensitive issue
Nicole Brown
4. Fibromyalgia and me
Divya Jindal-Snape
5. A practical response to ableism in leadership in UK higher education
Nicola Martin
6. Autoimmune actions in the ableist academy: A crip response
Alice Andrews
7. 'But you don't look disabled': Non-visible disabilities, disclosure and being an 'insider' in disability research and 'other' in the disability movement and academia
Elisabeth Griffiths
8. Invisible disability, unacknowledged diversity
Carla Finesilver, Jennifer Leigh and Nicole Brown
9. Imposter
Jennifer Rode
10. Internalised ableism: Of the political and the personal
Jennifer Leigh and Nicole Brown
11. From the personal to the political: Ableism, activism and academia
Kirstein Rummery
12. The violence of technicism: Ableism as humiliation and degrading treatment
Fiona Kumari Campbell
13. A little bit extra
El Spaeth

Concluding thoughts: Moving forward
Nicole Brown and Jennifer Leigh
Afterword
Jennifer Leigh and Nicole Brown
Index

'Readers interested in a broad overview on how ableism plays out in the academic setting as told by disabled academics of different backgrounds will enjoy reading this collection.'
Disability Studies Community Blog

Critical Studies in Teaching & Learning (CriSTal)