Philosophy, Disability and Social Change 5 (#PHIDISSOCCH5)

Philosophy, Disability and Social Change 5 (#PhiDisSocCh5) comprises presentations by disabled philosophers whose cutting-edge research challenges members of the philosophical community to (1) think more critically about the metaphysical and epistemological status of disability; (2) closely examine how philosophy of disability is related to the tradition and discipline of philosophy; and (3) seriously consider how philosophy and philosophers contribute to the pervasive inequality and subordination that disabled people confront throughout society.

This year’s conference will feature a pathbreaking roundtable of disabled philosophy students (facilitated by Will Conway and T. Virgil Murthy), who will address the social and political implications of merit as an academic value; a recurring roundtable of disabled philosophy faculty (facilitated by Johnathan Flowers and Melinda Hall), who will jointly identify the mechanisms that produce the continuing exclusion of disabled philosophers from the profession and critical work on disability from the discipline; and several panels of fascinating presentations on topics such as African philosophy of disability, neurodiversity and Madness, and the politics of eating.

In its entirety, Philosophy, Disability and Social Change 5 will highlight the diversity and range of approaches to critical philosophical work on disability and showcase the heterogeneity with respect to race, gender, nationality, sexuality, gender identity, culture, age and class of the community of disabled philosophers.

The conference program is provided below. All times shown are in GMT (UK afternoons). Captioning will be available.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11

13:00-13:05     INTRODUCTIONS

Jonathan Wolff (Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford) and Shelley Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)

13:05-14:45     AFROCENTRIC DISABILITY

Elvis Imafidon (SOAS), “Disability in Africa, Corporeal Hermeneutics and Disruptive Agency”

Julie E. Maybee (Lehman College/CUNY Graduate Center), “African Philosophy of Disability and Disabled People’s Liberation”

Chair: Jonathan Wolff (Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford)

14:45- 14:50   BREAK

14:50-16:30     DISABLED AND CLASS CONSCIOUS: MARXISM AND DISABILITY

Robert Chapman (Durham), “Mad History from Below: The Significance of the Ranters”

Mich Ciurria (Missouri at St. Louis), “Capitalism, Crisis and Chronic Fatigue”

Chair: Jonathan Wolff (Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford)

16:30-16:40   BREAK

16:40-18:00     ROUNDTABLE — AGAINST MERIT: HOW DISABLED STUDENTS SUBVERT INTELLIGENCE ESSENTIALISM

Participants: Alex Bryant (British Columbia), Clarissa Müller-Kosmarov (Warwick), Cal Nelson (Duquesne)

Facilitators: Will Conway (Stonybrook) and T. Virgil Murthy (Carnegie Mellon)

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12

13:00-13:05 MEET AND GREET

Jonathan Wolff (Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford) and Shelley Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)

13:05-15:30    NOUVEAU NEURO

Amandine Catala (Québec à Montréal) and Jane Dryden (Mount Allison), “Shifting the Vulnerability Economy: Autism and Unmasking”

August Gorman (Oakland), “Discursive Injustice and Neurodivergent Behaviour: Reclaiming Agent-Meaning”)

Abigail Gosselin, (Regis), “Mental Illness Stigma and Devaluation”

Chair: Shay Welch (Spelman)

15:30-15:40     BREAK

15:40-18:00     RECONCEIVING ABLEIST KNOWLEDGES AND VALUES, TOGETHER

Agnès Berthelot-Raffard (York, CA), “Reconceptualizing Knowledge: A Pathway to Disability Justice in Academia”

C. Dalrymple-Fraser (Toronto), “Crumpled Virtue”

Corinne Lajoie (Western), “Fearing Ableism, Together”

Chair: Shelley Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13

13:00-13:05     MEET AND GREET

Jonathan Wolff (Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford) and Shelley Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)

13:05-15:30     EATING POLITICS

Megan Dean (Michigan State), “An Anti-Dieting Defense of Dietary Restraint: Combatting Fatphobia Without Ableism about Eating”

Lori Gruen (Wesleyan), “Eating Disabled Animals”

Kristin Rodier (Athabasca), “Fatness and the Abnormal: Disciplining Bodies in the Age of Ozempic”

Chair: Tracy Isaacs (Western)

15:30-15:40      BREAK

15:40-17:50     ROUNDTABLE — SITUATING DISABILITY: THE FACTORS AND POLITICS OF DISABILITY EXCLUSION IN PHILOSOPHY AND BEYOND

Participants: Emily R. Douglas (Mount Allison), Gen Eickers (Bayreuth), Élaina Gauthier-Mamaril (Sheffield), Stephanie C. Jenkins (Oregon State), Andrea J. Pitts (Buffalo)

Facilitators: Johnathan Flowers (Cal State-Northridge) and Melinda C. Hall (Stetson)

17:50-18:00     CLOSING REMARKS

Jonathan Wolff (Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford) and Shelley Tremain (BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY)