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Think Pieces

Vol 6 No 2: September issue

Living a full life: Embodiment, disability, and ‘anthropology at home’

  • Hannah Gibson
DOI
https://doi.org/10.17157/mat.6.2.690
Submitted
December 19, 2018
Published
September 30, 2019

Abstract

What might anthropology and fieldwork look like if the anthropologist’s body, considered to be one of their ‘tools’, is not able-bodied? This piece of writing explores the intersection of disability and anthropological fieldwork, within the specific experience of doing anthropology at home. By interrogating the tension between academic advancement and disability, I challenge the expectation that traditional anthropologists must be able-bodied. In turn, this highlights the potential of being a vulnerable researcher.