Fourteenth Annual Brown Lecture in Education Research: Reenvisioning Equity Research: Disability Identification Disparities as a Case in Point

Abstract

I engage longstanding challenges and risks associated with conducting and using research on complex equity problems. I engage these challenges in the context of research on disability identification disparities, which have been historically intertwined with particular identity markers (e.g., race, social class, gender, language). Some of these tensions revolve around knowledge production, the nuances of representation, and the identities of oppressed groups. I critique traditional research on disability identification disparities and outline guiding principles for the next generation of equity research. First, future research on disability intersections must rely on historical epistemologies to honor the complexities of equity in worlds of difference. Second, the next generation of research must produce alternative interdisciplinary re-presentations of disability intersections.