We are pleased to say that we have had another article published that is based on our ESRC project, Living Life to the Fullest.

Provocations for Critical Disability Studies, published in the academic journal Disability and Society, has been co-authored by Living Life to the Fullest researchers Dan Goodley, Katherine Runswick-Cole and Kirsty Liddiard along with Rebecca Lawthom from Manchester Metropolitan University.

The article explains and questions some of the theoretical principles underpinning Living Life to the Fullest as a project rooted in Critical Disability Studies. The article is open access – meaning it is free for everyone to read – and can be accessed here.

Below, you can read our abstract, our accessible Points of Interest, and an Easy Read version we have produced.

Abstract

This article posits a number of provocations for scholars and researchers engaged with Critical Disability Studies. We summarise some of the analytical twists and turns occurring over the last few years that create a number of questions and concerns. We begin by introducing Critical Disability Studies; describing it as an interdisciplinary field of scholarship building on foundational disability studies theories. Critical Disability Studies scholarship is being produced at an exponential rate and we assert that we need to take pause for thought. We lay out five provocations to encourage reflection and debate: what is the purpose of Critical Disability Studies; how inclusive is Critical Disability Studies; is disability the object or subject of studies; what matters or gets said about disability; and how can we attend to disability and ability? We conclude by making a case for a reflexive and politicised Critical Disability Studies.

Points of interest

• This article introduces and discusses the field of Critical Disability Studies.
• Critical Disability Studies thinking has developed in some controversial and complex ways over the years.
• We review some of these developments and pose five questions that we think are urgently needed to be addressed by Critical Disability Studies researchers.
• Our questions are: what is the purpose of Critical Disability Studies; how inclusive is Critical Disability Studies; is disability the object or subject of studies; what matters or gets said about disability; and how can we attend to disability and ability?

Easy Read

Please email k.liddiard@sheffield.ac.uk for our Easy Read version in Microsoft Word of PDF.