Ruth E. Butler

Bio: Ruth E. Butler is an academic researcher. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 40 citations.

Geography and Vision-Impaired and Blind Populations

Abstract: As Reginald Golledge rightly notes in his outline of the scope of research in the field of disability, disabled people have received little attention from geographers. Golledge emphasizes the potential benefits to disabled people that could be offered by the specialist skills of geographers in studying spatial problems as well as the potential benefits which may accrue to the discipline from a concern with disability and the associated development of new geographic theory, methods and applications' (63). Whilst Golledge's paper is a most welcome addition to the limited volume of work on disabled

The Researched Opinions on Research: disabled people and disability research

Abstract: Thirty-five disabled people with a range of physical, sensory and mental impairments were interviewed about (1) their experiences of research; (2) their general opinions concerning research; (3) whether they thought research had served/was serving disabled people well; (4) how research on disability should be conducted; (5) who should conduct research on disability; and, finally, (6) what they would like to be researched. In this paper, the results of aspects two to five are reported. It was found that the opinions of disabled people mirror quite strongly the recent arguments forwarded by disabled academics concerning the need for emancipatory and empowering research strategies. In particular, the respondents articulated a need for inclusive, action-based research strategies, where disabled people are involved as consultants and partners not just as research subjects, There were few arguments, however, for an exclusive approach, where disability research would be conducted solely by researchers who were t...

The normality of doing things differently: bodies, spaces and disability geography

Abstract: This paper reflects upon treatments of the body in both disability studies and disability geography, taking seriously the impaired body in its immediate materiality: in its flesh-and-boneness, in how it deals with everyday practices in everyday places, as this embodiment is ‘voiced’ by disabled people themselves. The paper discusses Hansen's in-depth research with a sample of disabled women living in Scotland and Canada, teasing out their experiences of coping with impaired bodies in non-disabled spaces. Particular attention is given to their own bodily practices, complete with ‘timings and spacings’ that may depart from what is supposedly normal for non-disabled people. It is also shown how these women resist ableist accommodations that entail both modifying external spaces and ‘correcting’ bodily differences. The paper concludes by identifying a key but neglected step within the ‘politics’ of better accommodating disabled people: namely, shifting the emphasis from (aiding disabled people in) doing things ‘normally’ to (underlining for all of ‘us’) simply the normality of doing things differently.

The Geographies of Disability: Reflections on the Development of a Sub-Discipline

Abstract: Geographers’ interest in the subject of disability has traditionally been confined to particular parts of the discipline, and usually been of marginal interest to most academics. This has mirrored a broader antipathy to the study of disability in the social sciences although, in recent years, geographical scholarship about space, place, and disability has proliferated. In this review paper, we outline and assess the significance of this trend, and we comment on the importance of theoretical and methodological developments in the sub-discipline. In doing so, we anticipate the ways in which studies of geography and disability are likely to evolve.

Disability studies in human geography

Abstract: Studies of disability have been rare in human geography until a recent blossoming of interest. In this article we review the expanding literature on disability, charting the process by which such studies have become newly significant in the field. Our initial focus is on physical disability after which we move on to issues around mental health and intellectual disability. In the concluding section we evaluate the significance of recent work on disability within human geography as a whole and suggest possible links to the growing literature on rights, social justice and ethics.

Towards a relational geography of disability

Abstract: In this paper we develop linkages between non-representational theory and emerging work by disability scholars in geography. We argue that non-representational thinking has the potential to advance our understanding of the complex and emergent geographies of dis/ability. We first outline key dimensions of non-representational thinking within geography. We then explore how this perspective has begun to, and might further inform, geographical scholarship on disability. Next, we extend our thinking to consider how NRT might provide the basis for a critical geography of the ‘able-body’. We conclude by reflecting on the conceptual, political, methodological and empirical implications of our argument.