[Commlist] Cfp TMG Journal for Media History - special issue Disability Media Histories

TMG - Journal for Media History
CFP SPECIAL ISSUE “DISABILITY MEDIA HISTORIES”
Deadline: 25 March 2024

In 2017, Elizabeth Ellcessor and Bill Kirkpatrick edited the anthology 
Disability Media Studies, to bring together their own and other 
scholars’ work in the academic fields of disability studies and media 
studies. Its topics vary from access, production and technology to race, 
gender and fan culture within film, television, sound and transmedia 
phenomena. What is not covered extensively, however, is a profound 
historical and historiographical perspective on the representation of 
disability and neurodiversity in media (Adams 2017). With this special 
issue of TMG  Journal for Media History, we wish to contribute to this 
lacune in the field of Disability Media Studies.

Background
Disability Studies as an academic field emerged in the 1970s and 1980s 
alongside disability activism in the UK and the US, driven by the slogan 
‘nothing about us without us.’ This field marked a shift from a medical 
model of disability, which views disability as an individual impairment 
in need of prevention or cure, to a social model, which views disability 
not as a result of an impairment, but of inaccessible environments and 
societal barriers. Further developments in disability studies introduced 
more nuanced models, like the cultural, political/relational, and 
complex embodiment models. These models, advocated by scholars such as 
Mitchell & Snyder, Alison Kafer, and Tobin Siebers, recognize both the 
social and material aspects of disability, countering the limitations of 
the medical-social binary. In the early 21st century, Critical 
Disability Studies (CDS) emerged, integrating disability into broader 
discussions on intersectionality and oppression. CDS highlights the 
intersections of disability with systems like patriarchy, capitalism, 
colonialism, and racism. Scholars like Nirmala Erevelles emphasize the 
role of disability in shaping societal structures and class relations. 
CDS also advocates for including perspectives from the global south, 
diversifying and politicizing the (generally) Eurocentric focus of 
Disability Studies. Currently, Disability Studies programs are finding 
their way into academia, primarily in Canada, the United States, the 
United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

Towards epistemic justice
There is a growing trend towards inclusive academic research involving 
people with intellectual/learning disabilities and neurodiversity, in 
countries including the Netherlands, Ireland and Australia. This 
approach aligns with the principle of ‘nothing about us without us,’ 
challenging the traditional dominance of logocentric propositional 
knowledge in academia and promoting epistemic agency and justice (e.g. 
Zaagsma et al. 2022; Sergeant et al. 2022; Knevel et al. 2022). The 
theme of epistemic agency and justice can also be traced back to the 
issue of (media) archives. Disability and neurodiversity, being 
marginalized in society, are underrepresented in archival and heritage 
studies, leading to their voices being largely absent. Recently, there 
has been a growing movement to ‘crip the archives,’ spearheaded by 
scholars and activists with disabilities, echoing efforts like the 
decolonization of the FIAF cataloguing committee. In the Netherlands, 
institutions like the Royal Library of the Netherlands (KB) and the 
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision are working on making Dutch 
archives more accessible to people with disabilities. Internationally, 
the concept of cripping the archives is being explored through 
intersectionality and accessibility perspectives. New independent 
initiatives are emerging to create and maintain accurate disability 
archives, recognizing that media representations significantly influence 
contemporary and future societal perceptions of disability. Finally, in 
Disability Media Studies, the Eurocentric and Anglo-Saxon focus is a 
problem to address. Therefore, we welcome proposals that challenge this 
focus. Overall, bringing media and disability studies together into 
Disability Media Studies has been shown to be productive and brings new 
perspectives through fruitful dialogue and synergy. However, a profound 
historical point of view is missing in this new field of research.

Therefore, we are looking for contributions on the following topics:

Identity and representation
- The representation of disability and neurodiversity in audio-visual 
objects from various historical periods, for example, regarding the 
persistence of eugenic discourse and ideas in Western society.
- Changing ideas on what is normal and what is deviant, and how this can 
be traced back to audio-visual representations of disability and 
neurodiversity.
- The interrelationship between the history of disability activism and 
media representations of disability and neurodiversity.
- The historical role of (media) archives in the construction of 
disability and neurodiverse identities.

Epistemic injustice
- Doing inclusive media historical and analytical research, i.e. 
research by or with people with disabilities.
- The impact of lived-experience knowledge on media historical research.
- The history of inclusivity in media industry and production contexts.
- Lost or destroyed archives on disability and neurodiversity (lacunae 
in potential future knowledge).
- Including disabled and neurodiverse professionals in (media) archival 
work processes.

Media technology and the (disabled) body
- How can disability perspectives (pain, discomfort, medicalisation) 
challenge theories on users/spectators and reception theories?
- Rethinking the history of media technology by bringing in disability 
perspectives.
- Rethinking the history of the materiality of media when approached 
from a disability perspective.

Historiography
- The role of disability and neurodiversity in media historical research 
of the past.
- The historical, cultural, and political context of archives that 
historically collected and archived (audio-visual) objects on disability 
and neurodiversity (e.g. institutions, families, local archives).
- Ethical implications of archival materials on disability and 
neurodiversity, and problems of privacy legislation (e.g. medical and 
care archives with personal details).
- Accessibility of (digital) archives for disabled and neurodiverse people.

On the basis of a 300-word abstract, to be submitted by 25 March 2024, 
selected authors shall be invited to submit an article of 6,000-8,000 
words (including notes) by 1 June 2024. Revised drafts are expected by 1 
September 2024. The issue will be published Fall 2024. Please send an 
abstract and a short bio to Dr. Bregt Lameris at Open Universiteit: 
(bregt.lameris /at/ ou.nl)

No payment from the authors of manuscripts accepted for publication will 
be required.

For questions, please contact the guest editors of the special issue, 
Dr. Bregt Lameris ((bregt.lameris /at/ ou.nl)) and M.A. Lesley Verbeek 
((lesley.verbeek /at/ ou.nl)).

More info: 
https://tmgonline.nl/announcements#cfp-special-issue-disability-media-histories.
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