Disability and Critique: A Critical Discourse Studies Approach-- Call for Chapter Proposals

Disability and Critique: A Critical Discourse Studies Approach

Edited by Jessica M.F. Hughes (Millersville University) and Mariaelena Bartesaghi (University of South Florida)

This is a call for chapter proposals for Disability and Critique, edited by Jessica M.F. Hughes and Mariaelena Bartesaghi. We invite chapter proposals that critically analyze the discourses that enable and disable disabled people. 

This project grows from our commitment as critical scholars, women, and academics living with disability. Through the lens of Critical Discourse Studies (CDS)—an umbrella term for examining how spoken, written, and multimodal discourse materialize power—we aim to: 1) make space for scholars of disability and discourse to connect across disciplines and global contexts, and 2) use critique as emancipatory action. We are seeking critiques that emerge from—and speak to—the lived experiences of disabled people resisting ableist infrastructures, epistemologies, and institutions.

CDS is uniquely positioned to make discourse matter—literally. In critical disability studies, discourse analysis reveals how ableist ideology materializes across contexts, such as academia (Dolmage, 2017; Price, 2014), healthcare (Antaki, 2006), and disaster capitalism (Puar, 2017). Discourse also materializes resistance, inclusion, interdependence, and empowerment. CDS makes sense of the struggle for disability rights and justice and invites disruption, reimagining, and liberation. This work is multimodal and multigeneric, capable of communicating our material and affective experiences and creating new worlds where everyone can thrive.

We seek contributors who examine texts, talk, and multimodal communication in context using critical approaches that are attentive to ideology and the consequentiality of communication. We see critical discourse studies as an expansive field that includes work in rhetoric, critical cultural studies, sociology, performance studies and other cognate disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

We plan to launch a blog alongside the book as a way of animating authors’ projects and creating accessible conversations beyond academic settings and registers. We envision blog posts based on chapters, comics explaining key concepts, op-eds, and author interviews. The scope of digital content will be determined by contributors. The blog will also promote the book and enable contributors to translate scholarship for diverse audiences, pursuing critique as action.

Submission proposals are due November 15 and should include

• Name(s), affiliation and contact information of author(s)

• A 150  word bio  

• Chapter title

• A 1000- 2000 word description of your proposed chapter plus references and data extracts, if pertinent.

Notices of acceptance will be sent by December 1. 

For queries, contact jessica.hughes@millersville.edu or mbartesaghi@usf.edu