Refusals as Access-Otherwise: Cripped Embodiments of Destitution and Prefiguration.
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| Title: | Refusals as Access-Otherwise: Cripped Embodiments of Destitution and Prefiguration. |
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| Authors: | BIERDZ, BRAD1 |
| Source: | JCT: Journal of Curriculum Theorizing. 2026, Vol. 41 Issue 1, p21-38. 18p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Disability studies, *Critical theory, *Learning, *Teaching methods, *Human behavior, *Autonomy (Psychology), *Disabilities, Inclusion (Disability rights) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the concept of refusal by students with disabilities in educational settings, arguing that refusal—often seen as defiance or dysfunction—can instead be understood as a legitimate and generative form of access that challenges normative demands of participation and learning. Drawing on crip theory and anarchic thought, refusal is framed as both destituent (disrupting coercive educational norms) and prefigurative (envisioning more livable, consent-based modes of engagement), with examples illustrating how students’ refusals create alternative temporalities, semiotic forms, relationalities, and spatial presences in classrooms. The author emphasizes the teacher’s role in responding to refusal not by enforcing compliance but by recognizing and supporting these “access-otherwise” practices, while also acknowledging the risks refusal poses within institutional structures that often pathologize or discipline such behaviors. Ultimately, the article calls for a reimagining of access beyond standardized legibility and productivity, advocating for pedagogies and educational environments that honor diverse embodiments, epistemologies, and modes of presence. [Extracted from the article] |
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| Database: | Education Research Complete |
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