Bodies and Spaces: An Exploration of Disabled People's Experiences of Public Space

TLDR

The paper examines how disability concepts and attitudes influence disabled people's freedom of movement in public spaces. The authors contextualize the study within contemporary disability debates, draw on feminist theory linking biology and social status, and propose a framework for analyzing disabled people's public space experiences. Using in-depth interviews with visually impaired participants in Reading and Leeds, the study demonstrates the reflexive link between bodily and social experience in public space.

Abstract

In this paper we consider the ways in which concepts of and attitudes towards ‘disability’ affect disabled people's ability to move freely within public spaces. We first set the paper in context by briefly discussing recent developments in and ongoing debates on the conceptualisation of disability which have accompanied the growing disability rights movement. Next we examine feminist literature relating to the links between biology and the body and the social status of women and draw out parallels for the analysis of disabled people's social situation. We then discuss a possible framework for the analysis of disabled people's experience of public space. Finally, to illustrate the reflexive relationship between bodily and social experience, we draw on in-depth interview material from a case study of visually impaired people in Reading and Leeds, England.