Sociology professor Beverly Yuen Thompson overviews the book, “Against Technoableism: Rethinking Who Needs Improvement,” written by Ashley Shew (2023). In this short book of essays, Dr. Shew brings together her experiences as an academic researcher in the areas of technology, ethics, and embodiment to apply to the topic of disability from a critical perspective. As a disabled person herself, she reflects upon her own experiences, as well as the voices of disabled scholars and activists to discuss such topics as how disability can contribute to critical understandings of our materials and social worlds, media representations, the materiality of costs associated with disability technologies, neurodivergence, and perspectives on the future of our social context for all bodies. This book provides an insightful perspective for sociologists, medical workers, and those becoming educated on embodiment in social institutions.
Timeline:
0:004:14 introduction to book
4:159:12 chapter one: Disabled everything, p. 113
9:1320:15 chapter two: Disorientation, p. 1433
20:1633:14 Chapter three: Scripts and crips, p. 3445
33:1543:56 Chapter four: New legs, old tricks, p. 4676
43:5749:16 Chapter five: The neurodivergent resistance, p. 76113
49:1754:37 Chapter six: Accessible futures, p. 114132
54:3855:37 Video conclusion