Big Society? Disabled people with the label of learning disabilities and the queer(y)ing of civil society

This paper explores the shifting landscape of civil society alongside the emergence of ‘Big Society’ in the UK. We do so as we begin a research project Big Society? Disabled people with learning disabilities and Civil Society [Economic and Social Research Council (ES/K004883/1)]; we consider what ‘Big Society’ might mean for the lives of disabled people labelled with learning disabilities (LDs). In the paper, we explore the ways in which the disabled body/mind might be thought of as a locus of contradictions as it makes problematic Big Society notions of: active citizenship and social capital. Our aim is to queer(y), or to trouble, these Big Society ideas, and to suggest that disability offers new ways of thinking through civil society. This leads us to three new theoretical takes upon civil society: (1) queer(y)ing active citizenship, (2) queer(y)ing social capital and (3) shaping, resisting and queer(y)ing Big Society. We conclude by suggesting that now is the time for disabled people with LDs to re-enter the fray in a new epoch of crip civil society

Good Times, Bad Times: Women with Learning Difficulties Telling their Stories

Women with a learning disability give voice to their thoughts and feelings on the topics which matter to them most, including relationships, children and work. The book also records the way in which women with and without learning disability worked side by side to make their voices heard. The book includes an illustrated accessible version

Participatory data analysis: a step too far?

Interest in participatory research methods has grown considerably in the spheres of research with children and young people and research with people with learning disabilities. This growth is rooted in different but related paradigm shifts in childhood and disability. I argue that despite developments in participatory approaches, participatory data analysis has been attempted less than participation in other aspects of research with either children or people with learning disabilities, and that the challenges involved in this are particularly under-explored and important with the latter where we need to investigate what is possible. I discuss why participation in analysis is often neglected before reviewing different responses to the challenge including examples of informal and formal, unstructured and structured, trained and untrained, explicit and implicit approaches. Finally I make the case for authentic reciprocal learning in exploring the potential benefits of participatory analysis to people and to research

Inclusive research and inclusive education: why connecting them makes sense for teachers’ and learners’ democratic development of education

Following pushes from the disability movement(s) and increased interest in children and young people becoming involved in research concerning them, inclusive research is growing within and beyond education establishments. Yet this arena is alive with interesting and largely unanswered questions. This paper discusses some of them: What do inclusive research and inclusive education have in common? Where have the moves towards inclusive (participatory and emancipatory) research happened and why? How viable are the claims to the moral superiority of inclusive research? What kinds and quality of knowledge does inclusive research produce? Finally the question is addressed of what all this means for inclusive education, arguing that inclusive research has under-explored potential to reinvigorate inclusive education and provide new connections to democracy and social justice in education