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Exploring the Psychological and Emotional Impact of Ableism in Education and Motherhood

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Exploring the Psychological and Emotional Impact of Ableism in Education and Motherhood EXPLORING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF ABLEISM IN EDUCATION AND MOTHERHOOD A TALE OF TWO PARTS Julia Nahal Daniels School of Education, The University of Sheffield June 2020 A thesis submitted in accordance with the regulations for the award of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield I hereby declare that, except where explicit attribution is made, the work presented in this thesis is entirely my own. ABSTRACT Ableism is everywhere. Its practices often operate under the guise of rationality, but they are toxic and pervasive. This programme of research addresses the psychological and emotional consequences of ableism in society, focusing particularly on two fundamental areas of social life: education and motherhood. The thesis will thus be divided into two separate but interrelated projects. Drawing on a range of theoretical orientations - Studies in Ableism (SiA); critical social psychoanalysis; and postconventionalist theories – I consider how the twines of ableism permeate into the concepts of being a ‘good’ student and a ‘good’ mother. Project One interrogates neoliberal ableism within the lives of disabled university students. It is conducted using a research design that reflexively reconsiders normative assumptions concerning the naturalisation of speech and the written word. The findings indicate that disabled students are positioned in the ableist imaginary as unruly and demanding, in stark contrast to the vision of the ‘ideal’ student who is autonomous, self-regulatory, and compliant. This vision can be reabsorbed into the minds of disabled students, leading them to disavow and reject their disability, or endeavour to ‘pass’ as non-disabled. Both these reactions can cause a significant amount of psychological and emotional distress. Project Two seeks to unmask the values that nourish the ideology of motherhood (ableism’s production) and analyse how we as a society reinforce these values (ableism’s performance). It frames the ways in which disabled mothers potentially resist and challenge these normative notions. I use my position as an insider- researcher to strengthen my critical positionality, using my particular vantage point to unravel the complexity of threads that make up the entrenched social perceptions of what it means to be a mother, revealing the rotten core of neoliberal capitalist values at its root. Through this, we can begin to challenge and refuse such limiting concepts. Using postconventionalist theories I position disability as a productive force that refutes neoliberal ableist normativity, and enables new knowledges to be created that incorporate embodied vulnerability and the necessity of living interdependently with others. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are numerous people to whom I owe sincerest gratitude for help with constructing this thesis. Firstly I would like to extend my thanks to the students and academics who participated in Project One. Your efforts, insight and valiant honesty constructed the foundations upon which this project rests, and I am truly thankful to all of you for sharing your experiences with me. Particular thanks go to my diligent supervisors Professor Dan Goodley and Dr Angharad Beckett who provided insightful and thought-provoking comments on drafts of this thesis; and who guided me through the rocky terrain when I faltered and lost my way. Angharad, thank you for challenging me. Dan, you awakened me to theory. The words that you and others gave me provided the tools with which to carve out a space for myself, delivering me from a place of self-loathing to a place of becomingness and possibility. Through theory I began to not only accept, but welcome and embrace parts of myself that I had previously thought were shameful and intolerable. Although I have never met you in the conventional sense of the term - Susan Wendell, Donna Reeve, Jenny Morris, Liz Crow, Claudia Malacrida, Robert McRuer, Tanya Titchkosky, and Fiona Kumari Campbell –you are my liberators, and your words had a powerful effect on me. These words are forever etched on my heart, and they have changed the trajectory of my life completely. The ‘passing’ (or not) of this thesis is secondary to the journey pursuing it has allowed me to travel upon, and I treasure the words that have given my life a new meaning. For that, Dan, I cannot thank you enough. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to my wonderful husband Ian Daniels, whose unwavering support and encouragement made this journey possible, and for giving me the time and space in which to work. Additional thanks goes to Rebecca Nayler and Umar Yusufu for many late night debates and discussions, and the provision of copious amounts of red wine and Toblerone. Sincerest thanks to my family who endeavoured to provide childcare and emotional support despite living hundreds of miles away. This research would not have been possible without the financial support I received from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the form of a fully-funded scholarship and 3 stipend. To all of those at the ESRC, I am extremely grateful for your support and understanding. And finally, special thanks goes to my beautiful daughters Jasmine Rose and Mia Jeet, without whom this thesis would have been completed years ago. 4 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my daughters, Jasmine Rose Nahal Daniels and Mia Jeet Nahal Daniels. You are my sunshine and my light; my warmth and my glow. You are my world, and I love you dearly. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Dedication ........................................................................................................................................................... 5 Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Table of Figures……………………………………………………………………………………………..….9 Preface .............................................................................................................................................................. 10 SECTION 1: Grounding the Thesis ........................................... 15 Chapter One: Ontological, Epistemological and Theoretical Orientations (and why they matter) ................... 16 1.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 16 1.2 My Ontological and Epistemological Values ......................................................................................... 18 1.3 Positionality ............................................................................................................................................ 19 1.4 Theoretical Orientations ......................................................................................................................... 21 1.4a Studies in Ableism ................................................................................................................................ 21 1.4b Social Constructionism ......................................................................................................................... 21 1.4c Biopower ............................................................................................................................................... 24 1.4d Phenomenology .................................................................................................................................... 25 1.4e Critical Social Psychoanalysis .............................................................................................................. 25 1.4f Crip Theory ........................................................................................................................................... 33 1.4g Postconventionalist theories ................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter Two: Setting the Stage ........................................................................................................................ 37 2.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 37 2.2 The Epistemology of Ableism ................................................................................................................ 37 2.3 Ableism is all around us, and so the feeling grows… ............................................................................. 46 SECTION 2: Project One - Neoliberal Education and the University ............ 48 Chapter Three: Methodological Processes for Project One - The What, the How and the Why ...................... 49 3.1 Overview ................................................................................................................................................ 49 3.2 Research Questions for Project One ....................................................................................................... 49 3.3 Interpretive Paradigm ............................................................................................................................. 51 3.4 Research Methods ..................................................................................................................................
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