Disturbing able-bodiedness in ‘vulnerable’ schools: dis/orientations inside and through research-assemblages

ABSTRACT

In this article, we explore the social production of able-bodiedness triggered by an art-based research project carried out in an inclusive Chilean school. Grounded in Deleuzoguattarian assemblage theory, we map the multiplicities produced by the collision between social justice research practices and ‘vulnerability’ as a pervading category within the contemporary education policyscape. Analyzing a short film created by students labeled as ‘at risk’, we expose that educational policies aimed at addressing social vulnerability invent ‘the future’ as only habitable for those who materialize able-bodiedness. However, crip futurities also emerge throughout the short film, showing that non-normative expressions of the human can actualize themselves using research as a milieu. These simultaneous and asymmetrical ways of expressing humanness illuminate how intricate the affective relation between research and neoliberal policy is. We conclude by discussing the power of research-assemblages for disorienting ableist biopedagogies and legitimizing futures other than those of compulsory able-bodiedness.

KEYWORDS:

• Assemblages
• compulsory able-bodiedness
• dis/ability
• crip futurity
• affect
• vulnerability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Chilean National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development under grant Fondecyt, [N°1130616].

Notes on contributors

Carlos Araneda

Carlos Araneda is a PhD candidate in Education at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. His main interest is regarding the use of critical disability studies and new materialisms to answer questions of inclusive education and social justice.

Marta Infante

Marta Infante is an associate professor of the Faculty of Education at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She teaches and investigates from a Critical Disability Studies’ perspective and her main interests are focused on topics regarding disability, social justice, and new materialisms.