91̽»¨

1st November

 - University of 91̽»¨

SPECIAL LECTURE - THE PHILOSOPHY OF DISABILITY AND DIFFERENCE - 'Cripistemologies of Chronicity: A "coalition of the 'left-behinds'"

In this talk, I will argue for the use of cripistemologies to manage the uncertainty affecting people with chronic illnesses, and specifically people living with long-COVID, in the face of Evidence-Based Medicine models of biomedical knowledge. 

I will provide a brief introduction to crip theory and cripistemologies followed by an analysis of the ongoing experience of long-haulers to build a case for the necessity of an account of chronicity that is accountable to disabled people.

The Philosophy of Disability and Difference

Calling some disabilities "invisible" makes it look as if invisibility is one of their properties. I argue that we should favour the term "hidden disability" instead, in order to bring attention to the social mechanisms which serve to hide those disabilities. This includes lack of public awareness, individual masking of symptoms, etc. There are two important consequences of this reframing. Firstly, it helps us focus on how disability discrimination is an example of structural injustice: the "unhiding" of symptoms looks as if it was primarily a matter for individual responsibility, but on further examination this can be questioned. Secondly, we can more easily find commonalities and draw parallels between disabilities usually designated as "visible versus invisible". Many "visibly" disabled people are in fact hidden, unable to leave the house due to lack of accessible transport, lack of wheelchair access or hoist-accessible toilets, etc.