Centering embodiment in disability research through performance ethnography

Abstract

In this article, I bring disability studies and critical qualitative pedagogies to bear upon methodological concerns of social work to think through questions of disability embodiment, positionality, representation and political engagement in doing disability research. Combining methodological tools of performance ethnography with critical disability praxis, I present an example of what I term critical disability performance ethnography, a research methodology that has much potential for social work—particularly with respect to its emphasis on achieving social justice. I illuminate the transformative potential of shared disability embodiment in the process of knowledge production through my experiences as a disabled researcher doing disability research, while also drawing attention to the broader issues concerning disability and neoliberal development in the global south.