Disablism and Diaspora: British Pakistani Families and Disabled Children
Main Article Content
Keywords
disablism, diaspora, family
Abstract
This paper explores the intersections of diaspora, disability and family. Drawing on qualitative interviews with the parents of three British Pakistani families we draw out three lines of enquiry. The first, disability and disavowal in Pakistan, explores parents’ relationship with ‘home’ and how this is complicated by the presence of disablism. The second, disability and the fight for care in Britain, explores the ways in which British Asian families are grounded not only in the cultures and traditions of their parents and the Asian subcontinent, but also in the social practices of Britain. The third, disability and diaspora - from isolation to ensembled caringscapes, examines the limits and possibilities offered through diaspora. One key affirmative element of this is the support of an extended family, which brings with it, the chance to look to the future with hope and possibility.
References
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Brah, A. (1996).Cartographies of diaspora. London: Routledge.
Bauman, Z. (1997) Postmodernity and its discontents. Cambridge: Polity.
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Crozier, G. and Davies, J. (2006) Family matters: A discussion of the Bangladeshi and Pakistani extended family and community in supporting the children's education, The Sociological Review, 54(4), 678–695.
Dwyer, C. (2000). Negotiating diasporic identities: Young British South Asian Muslim women. Women’s Studies International Forum, 23 (4), 475–486.
Edwards, C. and Imrie, R. (2005). Disability and bodies as bearers of value. Sociology, 37(2), 239–256
Goodley, D. (2011). Disability studies: An interdisciplinary introduction. London: Sage.
Goodley, D., & Tregaskis, C. (2006b). Storying disability and impairment: Retrospective accounts of disabled family life. Qualitative Health Research, 16(5), 630-646.
Grech, S. (2011). Disability in the folds of poverty: Exploring connections and transitions in Guatemala. Manchester Metropolitan University: Unpublished PhD thesis.
Hall, S. (2003). Cultural identity and diaspora. In J. Evans Braziel, A. Mnnur (Eds.). Theorizing diaspora: A reader. London: Blackwell
Hughes, B. (2002) ‘Bauman’s strangers: Impairment and the invalidation of disabled people in modern and post-modern cultures’. Disability & Society, 17, 571-84.
Hughes, B., McKie, L., Hopkins, D. and Watson, N. (2005). Love's Labours Lost? Feminism, the disabled people's movement and an ethic of care. Sociology, 39 (2), 259-275.
Kittay, E. F. (1999a). Love's labour: Essays on women, equality and dependency. New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
Kittay, E. F. (1999b). Not my way, Sesha, your way slowly: ‘Maternal thinking’ in the raising of a child with profound intellectual disabilities. In Hanisberg, J. & Ruddick, S. (Eds.), Mother troubles: Rethinking contemporary maternal dilemmas. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Kittay, E. F. (2002). When caring is just and justice is caring: justice and mental retardation. In Kittay, E. F. & Feder, E. K. (Eds.), The subject of care: Feminist perspectives on dependency. Oxford: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers.
Lloyd Evans, S. and Bowlby, S. (2000). Crossing boundaries: Racialised gendering and the labour market experiences of Pakistani migrant women in Britain. Women’s Studies International Forum, 23 (4), 461–474.
Mavroudi, E. (2007) Diaspora as process: (De)constructing boundaries. Geography Compass, 1 (3), 467–479,
McConachie, H. R. (1995). Critique of current practices in assessment of children. In Zinkin, P. & McConachie, H. R. (Eds.), Disabled Children and Developing Countries. London: MacKeith Press.
McKeever, P., & Miller, K. L. (2004). Mothering children who have disabilities: A Bourdieusian interpretation of maternal practices. Social Science & Medicine, 59(6), 1177-1191.
McKie, L., S. Gregory and S. Bowlby (2002) ‘Shadow Times: The temporal and spatial frameworks and experiences of caring and working. Sociology, 36 (4), 897-924.
McLaughlin, J. (2005). Exploring diagnostic processes: Social science perspectives. Archives of Diseases in Childhood, Mar(90), 284 - 287.
McLaughlin, J. and Goodley, D. (2008) Parents of disabled babies: Seeking and rejecting certainty: Exposing the sophisticated lifeworlds of Sociology 42 (2), 317 – 335.
Pratesi, A., and Runswick-Cole, K. (in press) Not so usual families: overlaps and divergence in the practices of care within disabled and same-sex families, Journal of Sociology of Families.
Rattansi, Ali (2004). Dialogues on difference: Cosmopolitans, locals and ‘others’ in a post-national age Sociology, 38(3): 613–621
Reeve, D. (2008). Negotiating disability in everyday life: The experience of psycho-emotional disablism. Lancaster: Unpublished PhD thesis.
Thomas, C. (1999). Female forms: Experiencing and understanding disability. Buckingham: The Open University Press.
Traustadóttir, R. (1991). Mothers who care: Gender, disability and family life. Journal of Family Issues, 12(2), 221-228.
Traustadóttir, R. (1999). Gender, disability and community life: Toward a feminist analysis. In Bersani, H. (Ed.), Responding to the challenge: Current trends and international issues in developmental disabilities. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Valentine, G. and Sporton, D. (2009)‘How other people see you, it’s like nothing that’s inside’: The impact of processes of disidentification and disavowal on young people’s subjectivities. Sociology, 43(4), 735-751.
Wakeling, P. (2007). White faces, Black faces: Is British sociology a white discipline? Sociology, 41(5), 945–960
Watson, N., McKie, L., Hughes, B,, Hopkins, D and Gregory, S. (2004). (Inter)Dependence, needs and care: The potential for disability and feminist theorists to develop an emancipatory model, Sociology, 38(2), 331–350
Brah, A. (1996).Cartographies of diaspora. London: Routledge.
Bauman, Z. (1997) Postmodernity and its discontents. Cambridge: Polity.
Burdsey, D. (2006). ‘If I ever play football, Dad, can I play for England or India?’ British Asians, sport and diasporic national identities. Sociology, 40(1), 11-28.
Crozier, G. and Davies, J. (2006) Family matters: A discussion of the Bangladeshi and Pakistani extended family and community in supporting the children's education, The Sociological Review, 54(4), 678–695.
Dwyer, C. (2000). Negotiating diasporic identities: Young British South Asian Muslim women. Women’s Studies International Forum, 23 (4), 475–486.
Edwards, C. and Imrie, R. (2005). Disability and bodies as bearers of value. Sociology, 37(2), 239–256
Goodley, D. (2011). Disability studies: An interdisciplinary introduction. London: Sage.
Goodley, D., & Tregaskis, C. (2006b). Storying disability and impairment: Retrospective accounts of disabled family life. Qualitative Health Research, 16(5), 630-646.
Grech, S. (2011). Disability in the folds of poverty: Exploring connections and transitions in Guatemala. Manchester Metropolitan University: Unpublished PhD thesis.
Hall, S. (2003). Cultural identity and diaspora. In J. Evans Braziel, A. Mnnur (Eds.). Theorizing diaspora: A reader. London: Blackwell
Hughes, B. (2002) ‘Bauman’s strangers: Impairment and the invalidation of disabled people in modern and post-modern cultures’. Disability & Society, 17, 571-84.
Hughes, B., McKie, L., Hopkins, D. and Watson, N. (2005). Love's Labours Lost? Feminism, the disabled people's movement and an ethic of care. Sociology, 39 (2), 259-275.
Kittay, E. F. (1999a). Love's labour: Essays on women, equality and dependency. New York, N.Y.: Routledge.
Kittay, E. F. (1999b). Not my way, Sesha, your way slowly: ‘Maternal thinking’ in the raising of a child with profound intellectual disabilities. In Hanisberg, J. & Ruddick, S. (Eds.), Mother troubles: Rethinking contemporary maternal dilemmas. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Kittay, E. F. (2002). When caring is just and justice is caring: justice and mental retardation. In Kittay, E. F. & Feder, E. K. (Eds.), The subject of care: Feminist perspectives on dependency. Oxford: Rowan and Littlefield Publishers.
Lloyd Evans, S. and Bowlby, S. (2000). Crossing boundaries: Racialised gendering and the labour market experiences of Pakistani migrant women in Britain. Women’s Studies International Forum, 23 (4), 461–474.
Mavroudi, E. (2007) Diaspora as process: (De)constructing boundaries. Geography Compass, 1 (3), 467–479,
McConachie, H. R. (1995). Critique of current practices in assessment of children. In Zinkin, P. & McConachie, H. R. (Eds.), Disabled Children and Developing Countries. London: MacKeith Press.
McKeever, P., & Miller, K. L. (2004). Mothering children who have disabilities: A Bourdieusian interpretation of maternal practices. Social Science & Medicine, 59(6), 1177-1191.
McKie, L., S. Gregory and S. Bowlby (2002) ‘Shadow Times: The temporal and spatial frameworks and experiences of caring and working. Sociology, 36 (4), 897-924.
McLaughlin, J. (2005). Exploring diagnostic processes: Social science perspectives. Archives of Diseases in Childhood, Mar(90), 284 - 287.
McLaughlin, J. and Goodley, D. (2008) Parents of disabled babies: Seeking and rejecting certainty: Exposing the sophisticated lifeworlds of Sociology 42 (2), 317 – 335.
Pratesi, A., and Runswick-Cole, K. (in press) Not so usual families: overlaps and divergence in the practices of care within disabled and same-sex families, Journal of Sociology of Families.
Rattansi, Ali (2004). Dialogues on difference: Cosmopolitans, locals and ‘others’ in a post-national age Sociology, 38(3): 613–621
Reeve, D. (2008). Negotiating disability in everyday life: The experience of psycho-emotional disablism. Lancaster: Unpublished PhD thesis.
Thomas, C. (1999). Female forms: Experiencing and understanding disability. Buckingham: The Open University Press.
Traustadóttir, R. (1991). Mothers who care: Gender, disability and family life. Journal of Family Issues, 12(2), 221-228.
Traustadóttir, R. (1999). Gender, disability and community life: Toward a feminist analysis. In Bersani, H. (Ed.), Responding to the challenge: Current trends and international issues in developmental disabilities. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Valentine, G. and Sporton, D. (2009)‘How other people see you, it’s like nothing that’s inside’: The impact of processes of disidentification and disavowal on young people’s subjectivities. Sociology, 43(4), 735-751.
Wakeling, P. (2007). White faces, Black faces: Is British sociology a white discipline? Sociology, 41(5), 945–960
Watson, N., McKie, L., Hughes, B,, Hopkins, D and Gregory, S. (2004). (Inter)Dependence, needs and care: The potential for disability and feminist theorists to develop an emancipatory model, Sociology, 38(2), 331–350
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Sep 17, 2014
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Author Biographies
Dan Goodley, Professor of Disability Studies and Education, University of Sheffield
Dan Goodley is Professor of Disability Studies and Education at the University of Sheffield. He is interested in engaging with the dual processes of ableism and disablism and recent texts including 'Disability Studies: An interdisciplinary introduction' (Sage, 2011).
Katherine Runswick-Cole, Research Fellow, Research Institute of Health and Social Change, Manchester Metropolitan University
Dr Katherine Runswick-Cole is Research Fellow in Disability Studies and Psychology in the Research Institute of Health and Social Change at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Her research focuses on the lives of disabled children and their families. Katherine writes from a Critical Disability Studies perspective and has published extensively in the field.
Uzma Mahanoud
Uzma Mahanoud has an MSc in Psychology and Disability Studies from Manchester Metropolitan University.