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Subject: Re: DISABILITY-RESEARCH Digest - 13 Jul 2009 to 14 Jul 2009 (#2009-165) Call it 'essentialism'. Interesting term. Perhaps non-disabled people should do a 'Bob Connell' and give themselves an impairment if they feel so strongly about the systematic oppression that we face as Disabled people in our everyday lives. I jest, of course but the point is Men do speak on behalf of women, white people do speak on behalf of Black and minority ethnic people and so forth. This is not to say that those individuals do not identify with groups of people who are seemingly oppressed by those that hold the power but as Colin says - it should be disabled people first and foremost that speak on their own behalf until we have some semblance of equality. 'Disability scholarship' is an interesting phrase as well. Yes, of course academia and the study of disability may further the social movement but it is disabled people themselves that should be challenging and revolutionising the social construct that notwithstanding disability scholarship, legislation, direct payments is not suited to the human being and in particular the human being with impairment. ======================================== Message Received: Jul 15 2009, 12:58 AM From: "Malacrida, Claudia" To: [log in to unmask] Cc: Subject: Re: DISABILITY-RESEARCH Digest - 13 Jul 2009 to 14 Jul 2009 (#2009-165) I'm not so sure that essentialism is the answer. Bob Connell was a very articulate and positive critic of gender and power and although a man, was well-accepted as a member of the women's movement and seen as a strong contributor to women's studies. I think one of the strengths of having Bob Connell 'on-side' was that he was seen by hostile outsiders as a person who didn't have a personal 'agenda' because he was not a woman. In fact, I have heard from some essentialist women that, now that Connell has transitioned to being a woman and goes by the name Raewyn Connell, that her position as a disinterested profeminist scholar has actually been undermined! And of course, there are also feminists who feel that Raewyn isn't a 'real' woman because she wasn't born one, and so she's disqualified on that score as well. Seems you can't win sometimes. I'd say the same thing goes for disability scholarship - if we're going to say that someone has to have a disability in order to speak/write/advocate, then perhaps the next step will be that they need to have visible disabilities, or that they have to have been born with a disability rather than acquiring it, or it has to be physical rather than sensory, or some other ratcheting up of policing the body. I wonder if it isn't more important to evaluate what people have to say in terms of their ethics and the usefulness of their work for the greater social movement than it is to assess their credentials on a scale of whether, or how profoundly, they are disabled/gendered, etc. Best wishes, Claudia Malacrida -----Original Message----- From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of DISABILITY-RESEARCH automatic digest system Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 5:05 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: DISABILITY-RESEARCH Digest - 13 Jul 2009 to 14 Jul 2009 (#2009-165) There is 1 message totalling 61 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Would you expect a 'white' person to represent the voices of BME community , so..... ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:43:56 +0100 From: Colin REvell Subject: Would you expect a 'white' person to represent the voices of BME community , so..... Would you expect a 'white' person to represent the voices of BME community = and 'speak-out' their basic human and civil rights struggles? =20 Would you expect a 'hetrosexual' person to represent the voices of LGBT com= munity and 'speak-out' their basic human and civil rights struggles? =20 Would you expect a 'men' to represent 'womens' voices and 'speak-out' their= basic human and civil rights struggles?..... =20 ...so for god sake why are well still allowing non-disabled people (includi= ng professionals) to control and represent the voices of the Disabled commu= nity and 'speak-out' our basic human and civil rights struggles=2C under 'N= othing About Us=2C Without Us'... times really need to change within attitu= des and behaviour =2C including politically too=2C to understand 'inclusion= ' what it means to Disabled People. =20 Disabled People=2C like other minority groups need allies=2C but their need= s to be time for reflection of what people think 'Becoming An Ally' really = means in practice.... Some people need to be taught how to let go of their = 'power' =20 How To Be An Ally? Food for thought: ?Becoming an ally to oppressed people. Excerpt from =93Becoming an Ally Breaking the Cycle of Oppression=94 by Ann= e Bishop. Published by Fernwood Publishing=2C Halifax =20 "How To"- Becoming an Ally http://www.daa.org.uk/index.php?page=3Dhow-to-be-an-ally Colin Revell _________________________________________________________________ MSN straight to your mobile - news=2C entertainment=2C videos and more. http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/147991039/direct/01/= ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page. ------------------------------ End of DISABILITY-RESEARCH Digest - 13 Jul 2009 to 14 Jul 2009 (#2009-165) ************************************************************************ ** ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page. ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.