Everyday Hate and Affective Possibility: Disabled People's Negotiations of Space, Place and Identity

Leah Burch

doi:10.13169/intljofdissocjus.1.1.0073

Abstract

Although a universal conceptualisation of disability hate crime does not exist, it is widely agreed that hate ‘hurts’ more than other types of crime. This paper explores the diverse affects of hate crime and the various ways that these experiences can harm those who are targeted. Moving beyond this, this article attends to the diverse ways that the affects of hate can come to shape disabled people's everyday navigations of their surrounding social worlds. In doing so, it opens up a space for recognising the unique ways that people navigate, negotiate and resist experiences of hate within their everyday lives. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to introduce a framework for thinking about ‘everyday hate and affective possibility’ within the everyday lives of disabled people. Drawing upon findings from a recently conducted research project, this article suggests that experiences of hate crime can open up particularly informed ways of knowing and being in the world.

Highlights

The relationship between disabled people and space has been fundamental to changing how we think about disability
Carol Thomas (2004, p.40) argues that: The oppression that disabled people experience operates on the ‘inside’ as well as on the ‘outside’: it is about being made to feel of lesser value, worthless, unattractive, or disgusting as well it is about ‘outside’ matters
This paper explores the ways in which disabled people are affected by experiences of hate

Summary

Introduction

The relationship between disabled people and space has been fundamental to changing how we think about disability. LEAH BURCH structural, political and bureaucratic processes (Oliver et al, 2012), the organisation of physical space has been fundamentally important Such barriers ‘prevent disabled people’s ease of access to a range of places and are implicated in denying disabled people the right to determine where they want to go’ (Imrie, 2004, p.279). Carol Thomas (2004, p.40) argues that: The oppression that disabled people experience operates on the ‘inside’ as well as on the ‘outside’: it is about being made to feel of lesser value, worthless, unattractive, or disgusting as well it is about ‘outside’ matters Taking these thoughts and feelings into account is important due to how they shape the ways in which people feel about themselves (Bê, 2019), both as an individual and in relation to their surrounding space. Of importance here is the need to consider the ways that the affective capacity of bodies is not fixed or determined by experiences of oppression

Hate Crime and Affect Theory

The Research Project

Research Findings

Conclusion