A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Etheses - Queen Margaret ...

of England from organisations such as Disability Arts in London and the National Disability
Arts Forum, leading to the closure of these bodies, and the imminent closure of the Scottish
Arts Council‟s Equality Unit. Another major factor has been the distancing of themselves by
artists who have gained some success within the disability arts movement from their
community arts origins. It would be of value to conduct exploratory research asking whether
the affirmative model could be used to reinvigorate the movement from which it emerged as
an idea.
The affirmative model and narrative practice
Useful research could be carried out to explore ways in which the affirmative model could be
used in popular education aiming to engage in critical conversations with disabled people as
a process of revealing that established narratives do not describe the only possible realities.
To this end I have in mind the development and trial of a series of illustrated stories and
vignettes which could be used as the basis either for one-to-one or group discussions and
reflection.
Developing the sociology of the absurd
Further exploration of the everyday life experience of people with impairments could be
used as the basis for a developed sociology of the absurd. While this sociological sub-
category was first proposed by Lyman and Scott in 1970, it is an area of analysis that has
received little further attention. Founded upon an assumption of the meaninglessness of life,
the sociology of the absurd examines the way in which arbitrary meaning is created and
imposed through social interaction. The statement made by Mary‟s partner Donald, that
disabled people see the world „at its most stupid‟ (l.3:447ff.) suggests that, as well as being
theoretically novel, further research in this area could be socially relevant.
Developing affirming language
The way we use language is an important part of the way that together we construct shared
understandings and expectations about people and the way we relate to people. It became
clear at the self-advocacy meeting I attended with Roshni that there is a need for action
research into the development of new words and concepts in Asian languages such as
Punjabi and Urdu so that impairment can be increasingly spoken about and experienced
without oppression.
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