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

Sutherland, Richard Rieser and Micheline Mason, Rosemary Thomson, Donna Reeve, Carol
Thomas, and Paul Darke, among others. I have drawn insight from Media Studies writers
including Tony Wilson, Karen Dill, Jean Baudrillard, Paul Taylor and Jan Harris, Richard
Dyer, Gareth Palmer, Neil Postman and Richard Hoggart.
I use the social model of disability as the ontological and epistemological basis for my
research production and for my discussion (Priestley, 1997). This means that from the outset
I make a fundamental distinction between the concepts of impairment and disability. I regard
impairment as a material, fixed characteristic of human beings. The reality of being disabled
that I describe is the everyday embodied experience of living with impairment in a disabling
society. I regard disability as an oppressive social relationship, as „something imposed on top
of our impairments‟ (UPIAS, 1976:14).
Throughout my research I have been guided by the core principles characteristic of an
emancipatory disability research paradigm: surrendering claims to objectivity through overt
political commitment to the struggle of disabled people for self-emancipation; carrying out
research that will be of some practical benefit to the self-empowerment of disabled people;
being accountable in my research production to research participants; giving voice to the
personal whilst endeavouring to collectivise the commonality of disabling experiences and
barriers. I have, furthermore, adopted a plurality of data collection methods (Priestley,
1997:91).
I will also, however, be focussing a critical gaze upon the social model in order to examine
its adequacy as an explanatory tool for the description and analysis of the everyday
experience of living with impairment in a disabling society. There is no necessary
contradiction here and parallels can be observed within other areas of sociological
discussion: e.g. feminist perspectives are brought to bear in critiquing and developing
feminist theory (Butler, 1990).
I am aware that my presence and outlook has significantly impacted upon the shape and
outcomes of this project, but do not regard this as a limitation. As a disabled person who has
spent the majority of my life wrestling with disability identity issues at a personal level
(Swain and Cameron, 1999) my motivations for carrying out this research have been both
personal and political. Having been involved as an activist in the disabled people‟s
movement for almost two decades, I regard my research as arising out of and feeding back
into the struggle of the movement (Watson, 2004). I intend that this study will challenge
routine oppression and play a role in facilitating the personal liberation of disabled people
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