Claiming Disability In Appalachia
- ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Rebecca Eli Long (Creator)
- Institution
- Appalachian State University (ASU )
- Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
- Advisor
- Julie Shepherd-Powell
Abstract: Appalachia has been seen as a disabled region, commonly positioned as needing development to be brought in line with the rest of the United States. Instead of automatically assuming that this disablement is negative, I interrogate the multiple meanings and potentialities of disability. I draw on the work of disability scholars and activists to discuss how disability provides a transformative site for social justice. Taking a critical disability studies methodology, I track the ways in which Appalachia has been disabled, primarily through histories of environmental extraction and domination by outside forces. Perceptions of Appalachia as a disabled region, along with lived experiences of disability and impairment, are salient to Appalachia’s past, present, and future. I consider how disability relates to and can inform social movements in Appalachia, including labor, environmental justice, LGBTQ+ organizing, and caregiving. Throughout diverse case studies that challenge the boundaries of what we consider disability, I argue that understanding disability is crucial to the question: What would a good future for Appalachia look like? Instead of assuming that this hypothetical future would include an eradication of disability, I contend that disability offers a source of cultural knowledge and expertise, especially for cross-movement building in times of precarity.
Claiming Disability In Appalachia
PDF (Portable Document Format)
479 KB
Created on 7/8/2020
Views: 912
Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Long, R. (2020). Claiming Disability In Appalachia. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
- Language: English
- Date: 2020
- Keywords
- Appalachia, Disability, Social Justice, Environmental, Queer