Doctoral Dissertation Research: Disability, Technology, and Labor

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Definitions of disability vary significantly across time and space. A key consideration in defining disability revolves around what an individual is able to produce as a result of their labor. What forms of labor are deemed useful and valuable change in relation to technology. Thus, technology affects how people labor, in turn impacting how disability is defined. This doctoral dissertation research project investigates how variation in technological labor intersects with different forms of disability to affect how disability is understood, valued, and experienced. In addition to training a doctoral student in scientific cultural anthropology, this research disseminates research broadly to academic and non-academic audiences, including policy experts and stakeholders with disabilities. The central question of this research concerns the relationship between digital labor and definitions and valuations of disability. The investigators conduct twelve months of ethnographic research among organizations employing persons with disabilities. They use participant observation, participatory research, interviews, and document analysis to understand 1) what forms of labor are understood to be most critical for productivity; 2) how work environments affect experiences of disability among employees with disabilities; and 3) how broader political and cultural variation in the valuation of certain technologies affect valuations and definitions of disability. This multi-level investigation of work and disability will inform understandings of what factors predict how disability is accommodated and valued. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.