Everyday activisms: Parental places and emotions of disability activism in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

AbstractThis paper considers the everyday spaces and places of disability activism for parents of disabled children in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. Geographers and disability scholars are yet to consider disability activism in a range of everyday child–parent spaces. Parents resist, rework, and subvert ableist structures and spaces in ways that may seem unremarkable, but that are indeed significant acts. We question the meaning of activism by examining the relationship between “activism” and “everyday family lives.” Sara Ahmed's concept of “affinity of hammers” is adopted to understand how parental disability activism is enacted in health, educational, and disability spaces and places. Interviews and written responses from seven parents (five mothers and two fathers) of disabled children are analysed. Findings are divided into three themes: first, quiet, implicit forms of activism; second, fighting for rights and equitable access; and third, using personal experience to educate people about disability rights. We conclude that family disability activism – in its myriad forms – can provide leadership to other people, challenge ableism, and help geographers and others to rethink common understandings of activism.