Revealing Abledment: Ableism and the Body Politic

Studies in Ableism (SiA) is now a recognised sub-specialism of critical disability studies and focuses on ways that abledment (the process of being/becoming ‘abled’) is located within societal processes and practices. Temporality, place and context are significant for the formation of bodies and populations marked as ‘abled’, and the remnant sometimes marked as ‘disabled’.

We are keen to support PhD candidates who are interested in investigating the production of abledment within a specific realm (this could be the notion of citizenship in more collectivist societies, ideas of reciprocity and hospitality in family-kin networks; abledment and abjection; ‘advances’ in science; abledment, technology and productivity; abledment and leadership; and so on). Students will be provided with support in absorbing the canon of critical disability studies in order to gain insights into radical appraisals of disability before moving in the literature of SiA.

The project requires a student who is committed to reading broadly across traditional disciplinary boundaries and non-western cultural contexts, hungry for deliberation and problematisation; and ultimately comfortable with complexity and uncertainties. This project would suit PhD students from humanities (history, art aesthetics, medical humanities), social sciences (sociology, politics, cultural studies, anthropology, legal studies) and social work, education, community learning & development.

Diversity statement

Our research community thrives on the diversity of students and staff which helps to make the University of Dundee a UK university of choice for postgraduate research. We welcome applications from all talented individuals and are committed to widening access to those who have the ability and potential to benefit from higher education.