Shelley L Tremain
Reviews of Foucault and Feminist Philosophy of Disability:
"An important work not just for those working on disability, but for anyone working on social justice, broadly understood. It is clearly argued, full of original ideas and insightful argument, and also a significant political intervention into debates over philosophical method. Tremain is unrelentingly materialist and structuralist in her analysis of ableist, sexist, and racist oppression. The book is an urgent call for all of us to do better." — Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Foucault and Feminist Philosophy of Disability offers a master class on Foucault and feminist theory as it addresses the dangerous and biased exclusion of disability within academic philosophy. Its most powerful gifts are the tools it gives readers for recognizing the same exclusion and discrimination within their own fields—it is a book that has the potential to change academia.” — Jay Dolmage, University of Waterloo
“Sets the scene for philosophy of disability and opens new paths for critical disability studies…Tremain carefully corrects misreadings and misappropriations of Foucault among disability theorists and feminists alike, and shows how these thinkers inadvertently reinscribe the status quo when it comes to theorizing disability. In working through the many ways disability is constructed, the book radicalizes philosophical consideration of topics ranging from epistemic injustice to stem cell research.” — Melinda Hall, Stetson University
“A much-needed contribution to the general intellectual discussion of disability, to Foucault studies, and to feminist theory. Tremain plows into some central tenets of disability theories and some of the most taken-for-granted feminist criticisms of Foucault. She also indicts professional philosophy in North America for its structural exclusion of disabled scholars. The evidence she presents and the arguments she makes are strong and sound.” — Ladelle McWhorter, Stephanie Bennett-Smith Chair in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Richmond
"The book is a fascinating critique of much contemporary philosophy and policy, providing a detailed, but easy to follow overview of key works in feminism and in Foucault’s thought. The book places these discussions in the context of inequalities within academic philosophy itself, drawing attention to the marginalisation of key questions of disability and gender from contemporary philosophy as it is currently organised." — Dave O'Brien, New Books Network (https://newbooksnetwork.com/shelley-tremain-foucault-and-feminist-philosophy-of-disability-u-michigan-press-2017/)
Bio:
I earned my PhD in Philosophy under the supervision of Professor Leslie J. Green (Oxford) at York University. I have taught in Canada, the U.S., and Australia and have published widely on a range of topics, including disability and philosophy; disability and social justice; ableism in feminist philosophy; Foucault; Hacking; disability, race, and sexuality; and disability and bioethics. I am the editor of _Foucault and the Government of Disability_ (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005; 2015). In 2013, I guest-edited an influential special issue of _Disability Studies Quarterly_ whose theme was "Improving Feminist Philosophy and Theory by Taking Account of Disability" (Fall 2013). My monograph _Foucault and Feminist Philosophy of Disability_ was published in November 2017 by University of Michigan Press and was selected as the winner of the Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities for 2016. I was selected by the Canadian Disability Studies Association (CDSA-ACEI) as the recipient of the 2016 Tanis Doe Award for Canadian Disability Study and Culture (http://english.cdsa-acei.ca/student-awards/tanis-doe-award/). In addition to my academic research and writing, I regularly conduct policy analysis for various social justice efforts. From January 2015 to December 2018, I was both a coordinator of and blogger at the Discrimination and Disadvantage blog, where I posted, Dialogues on Disability, a series of interviews that I am conducting with disabled philosophers, as well as the administrator of the blog's Facebook group. In January 2019, Melinda Hall and I launched BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (https://biopoliticalphilosophy.com/), a group blog that provides critical analysis of biopolitical asymmetries and other mechanisms of power in philosophy. BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY is the new home of Dialogues on Disability. A list of my publications and attachments to download can also be found here: http://philpapers.org/s/Shelley%20Tremain
"An important work not just for those working on disability, but for anyone working on social justice, broadly understood. It is clearly argued, full of original ideas and insightful argument, and also a significant political intervention into debates over philosophical method. Tremain is unrelentingly materialist and structuralist in her analysis of ableist, sexist, and racist oppression. The book is an urgent call for all of us to do better." — Sally Haslanger, Ford Professor of Philosophy and Women's and Gender Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
“Foucault and Feminist Philosophy of Disability offers a master class on Foucault and feminist theory as it addresses the dangerous and biased exclusion of disability within academic philosophy. Its most powerful gifts are the tools it gives readers for recognizing the same exclusion and discrimination within their own fields—it is a book that has the potential to change academia.” — Jay Dolmage, University of Waterloo
“Sets the scene for philosophy of disability and opens new paths for critical disability studies…Tremain carefully corrects misreadings and misappropriations of Foucault among disability theorists and feminists alike, and shows how these thinkers inadvertently reinscribe the status quo when it comes to theorizing disability. In working through the many ways disability is constructed, the book radicalizes philosophical consideration of topics ranging from epistemic injustice to stem cell research.” — Melinda Hall, Stetson University
“A much-needed contribution to the general intellectual discussion of disability, to Foucault studies, and to feminist theory. Tremain plows into some central tenets of disability theories and some of the most taken-for-granted feminist criticisms of Foucault. She also indicts professional philosophy in North America for its structural exclusion of disabled scholars. The evidence she presents and the arguments she makes are strong and sound.” — Ladelle McWhorter, Stephanie Bennett-Smith Chair in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Richmond
"The book is a fascinating critique of much contemporary philosophy and policy, providing a detailed, but easy to follow overview of key works in feminism and in Foucault’s thought. The book places these discussions in the context of inequalities within academic philosophy itself, drawing attention to the marginalisation of key questions of disability and gender from contemporary philosophy as it is currently organised." — Dave O'Brien, New Books Network (https://newbooksnetwork.com/shelley-tremain-foucault-and-feminist-philosophy-of-disability-u-michigan-press-2017/)
Bio:
I earned my PhD in Philosophy under the supervision of Professor Leslie J. Green (Oxford) at York University. I have taught in Canada, the U.S., and Australia and have published widely on a range of topics, including disability and philosophy; disability and social justice; ableism in feminist philosophy; Foucault; Hacking; disability, race, and sexuality; and disability and bioethics. I am the editor of _Foucault and the Government of Disability_ (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005; 2015). In 2013, I guest-edited an influential special issue of _Disability Studies Quarterly_ whose theme was "Improving Feminist Philosophy and Theory by Taking Account of Disability" (Fall 2013). My monograph _Foucault and Feminist Philosophy of Disability_ was published in November 2017 by University of Michigan Press and was selected as the winner of the Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities for 2016. I was selected by the Canadian Disability Studies Association (CDSA-ACEI) as the recipient of the 2016 Tanis Doe Award for Canadian Disability Study and Culture (http://english.cdsa-acei.ca/student-awards/tanis-doe-award/). In addition to my academic research and writing, I regularly conduct policy analysis for various social justice efforts. From January 2015 to December 2018, I was both a coordinator of and blogger at the Discrimination and Disadvantage blog, where I posted, Dialogues on Disability, a series of interviews that I am conducting with disabled philosophers, as well as the administrator of the blog's Facebook group. In January 2019, Melinda Hall and I launched BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (https://biopoliticalphilosophy.com/), a group blog that provides critical analysis of biopolitical asymmetries and other mechanisms of power in philosophy. BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY is the new home of Dialogues on Disability. A list of my publications and attachments to download can also be found here: http://philpapers.org/s/Shelley%20Tremain
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Papers by Shelley L Tremain
In this article, I indicate how the naturalized and individualized conception of disability that prevails in philosophy informs the indifference of philosophers to the predictable COVID-19 tragedy that has unfolded in nursing homes, supported living centers, psychiatric institutions, and other institutions in which elders and
younger disabled people are placed. I maintain that, insofar as feminist and other discourses represent these institutions as sites of care and love, they enact structural gaslighting. I argue, therefore, that philosophers must engage in conceptual
engineering with respect to how disability and these institutions are understood and represented. To substantiate my argument, I trace the sequence of catastrophic events that have occurred in nursing homes in Canada and in the Canadian province of Ontario in particular during the pandemic, tying these events to other past and current eugenic practices produced in the Canadian context. The crux of the article is that the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into vivid relief the carceral character of nursing homes and other congregate settings in which elders and younger disabled
people are confined.
KEYWORDS
carceral, conceptual engineering, nursing home-industrial-complex, philosophy of disability, structural gaslighting
researched and represented in philosophy at present. Nevertheless, some of the
claims that I make over the course of the article are also pertinent to the marginalization
in philosophy of other areas of inquiry, including philosophy of race,
feminist philosophy more broadly, indigenous philosophies, and LGBTQI philosophy.
Although the discipline of philosophy largely continues to operate under the
guise of neutrality, rationality, and objectivity, the institutionalized structure of the
discipline implicitly and explicitly promotes certain ontologies, epistemologies, and
methodologies as bona fide philosophy, while casting the ontologies, epistemologies,
and methodologies of marginalized philosophies as mere simulacra of allegedly
fundamental ways of knowing and doing philosophy and thus rendering these
marginalized philosophies more or less expendable. This article is designed to
show that legitimized philosophical discourses are vital mechanisms in the problematization
of disability.
Critical diversity studies (CDS) can be found within “traditional,” or “established,” university disciplines, such as philosophy, as well as in relatively newer departments of the university, such as African studies departments, women’s and gender studies departments, and disability studies departments. In this article, therefore, I explain why philosophy of disability, an emerging subfield in the discipline of philosophy, should be recognized as an emerging area of CDS also. My discussion in the article situates philosophy of disability in CDS by both distinguishing this new subfield’s claims about disability from the arguments about disability that mainstream philosophers make and identifying the assumptions about social construction and antiessentialism that philosophy of disability shares with other areas of CDS. The discussion is designed to show that a (feminist) philosophy of disability that draws upon the work of Michel Foucault will transform how philosophers understand the situation of disabled people. By drawing upon Foucault, that is, I offer philosophers of disability and other practitioners of CDS a new understanding of disability as an apparatus of power relations.
With this article, I advance a historicist and relativist feminist philosophy of disability. I argue that Foucault’s insights offer the most astute tools with which to engage in this intellectual enterprise. Genealogy, the technique of investigation that Friedrich Nietzsche famously introduced and that Foucault took up and adapted in his own work, demonstrates that Foucault’s historicist approach has greater explanatory power and transgressive potential for analyses of disability than his critics in disability studies have thus far recognized. I show how a feminist philosophy of disability that employs Foucault’s technique of genealogy avoids ahistorical, teleological, and transcultural assumptions that beleaguer much work in disability studies. The article also situates feminist philosophical work on disability squarely in age-old debates in (Eurocentric) Western philosophy about universalism vs. relativism, materialism vs. idealism, realism vs. nominalism, and freewill vs. determinism, as well as contributes to ongoing discussions in (Western) feminist philosophy and theory about (among other things) essentialism vs. constructivism, identity, race, sexuality, agency, and experience.
In this article, I indicate how the naturalized and individualized conception of disability that prevails in philosophy informs the indifference of philosophers to the predictable COVID-19 tragedy that has unfolded in nursing homes, supported living centers, psychiatric institutions, and other institutions in which elders and
younger disabled people are placed. I maintain that, insofar as feminist and other discourses represent these institutions as sites of care and love, they enact structural gaslighting. I argue, therefore, that philosophers must engage in conceptual
engineering with respect to how disability and these institutions are understood and represented. To substantiate my argument, I trace the sequence of catastrophic events that have occurred in nursing homes in Canada and in the Canadian province of Ontario in particular during the pandemic, tying these events to other past and current eugenic practices produced in the Canadian context. The crux of the article is that the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown into vivid relief the carceral character of nursing homes and other congregate settings in which elders and younger disabled
people are confined.
KEYWORDS
carceral, conceptual engineering, nursing home-industrial-complex, philosophy of disability, structural gaslighting
researched and represented in philosophy at present. Nevertheless, some of the
claims that I make over the course of the article are also pertinent to the marginalization
in philosophy of other areas of inquiry, including philosophy of race,
feminist philosophy more broadly, indigenous philosophies, and LGBTQI philosophy.
Although the discipline of philosophy largely continues to operate under the
guise of neutrality, rationality, and objectivity, the institutionalized structure of the
discipline implicitly and explicitly promotes certain ontologies, epistemologies, and
methodologies as bona fide philosophy, while casting the ontologies, epistemologies,
and methodologies of marginalized philosophies as mere simulacra of allegedly
fundamental ways of knowing and doing philosophy and thus rendering these
marginalized philosophies more or less expendable. This article is designed to
show that legitimized philosophical discourses are vital mechanisms in the problematization
of disability.
Critical diversity studies (CDS) can be found within “traditional,” or “established,” university disciplines, such as philosophy, as well as in relatively newer departments of the university, such as African studies departments, women’s and gender studies departments, and disability studies departments. In this article, therefore, I explain why philosophy of disability, an emerging subfield in the discipline of philosophy, should be recognized as an emerging area of CDS also. My discussion in the article situates philosophy of disability in CDS by both distinguishing this new subfield’s claims about disability from the arguments about disability that mainstream philosophers make and identifying the assumptions about social construction and antiessentialism that philosophy of disability shares with other areas of CDS. The discussion is designed to show that a (feminist) philosophy of disability that draws upon the work of Michel Foucault will transform how philosophers understand the situation of disabled people. By drawing upon Foucault, that is, I offer philosophers of disability and other practitioners of CDS a new understanding of disability as an apparatus of power relations.
With this article, I advance a historicist and relativist feminist philosophy of disability. I argue that Foucault’s insights offer the most astute tools with which to engage in this intellectual enterprise. Genealogy, the technique of investigation that Friedrich Nietzsche famously introduced and that Foucault took up and adapted in his own work, demonstrates that Foucault’s historicist approach has greater explanatory power and transgressive potential for analyses of disability than his critics in disability studies have thus far recognized. I show how a feminist philosophy of disability that employs Foucault’s technique of genealogy avoids ahistorical, teleological, and transcultural assumptions that beleaguer much work in disability studies. The article also situates feminist philosophical work on disability squarely in age-old debates in (Eurocentric) Western philosophy about universalism vs. relativism, materialism vs. idealism, realism vs. nominalism, and freewill vs. determinism, as well as contributes to ongoing discussions in (Western) feminist philosophy and theory about (among other things) essentialism vs. constructivism, identity, race, sexuality, agency, and experience.
I acknowledge that the land on which I sit to conduct these interviews is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee and Anishnaabeg, covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and directly adjacent to Haldiman Treaty territory. I offer these interviews with respect and in the spirit of reconciliation.
My guest today is Kristina Lebedeva. Kristina was born and raised in Russia, arriving in the U.S.A. in 2000 and eventually defending a dissertation in philosophy at DePaul University. Kristina’s areas of interest are trauma studies, ethics, the question of evil, and phenomenology. At present, Kristina works as a private tutor and spends her time as a performer/storyteller and digital artist.
Hello, I'm Shelley Tremain and I'd like to welcome you to the ninth installment of Dialogues on Disability, a series of interviews that I am conducting with disabled philosophers and post here on the third Wednesday of each month. The series is designed to provide a public venue for discussion with disabled philosophers about a range of topics, including their philosophical work on disability; the place of philosophy of disability vis-à-vis the discipline and profession; their experiences of institutional discrimination and personal prejudice in philosophy, in particular, and in academia, more generally; resistance to ableism; accessibility; and anti-oppressive pedagogy. My guest today is Damion Kareem Scott. Damion is an adjunct professor in Philosophy and Africana Studies at the City University of New York, a M.A. student in African American Studies at Columbia University, and a Ph.D. student in Philosophy at Stony Brook University. Damion is passionate about music and dance, though he doesn't dance as much as he once did. Damion enjoys traveling and looks for ways to do so on the cheap. He also enjoys interacting with non-human animals, listening to music, and watching films and loves table tennis. Welcome to Dialogues on Disability, Damion! You have lived in various parts of the world and you speak multiple languages. So, why don't we start this interview with your personal history? Please tell us about your background and what it is that brought you to Africana Studies and philosophy.
I acknowledge that the land on which I sit to conduct these interviews is the traditional territory of the Haudensaunee and Anishnaabeg, covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and directly adjacent to Haldiman Treaty territory. I offer these interviews with respect and in the spirit of reconciliation.
My guest today is Gen Eickers. Gen is currently finishing their Ph.D. at the Berlin School of Mind and Brain and Freie Universitaet Berlin. Their research concentrates on social interaction and emotional display, developing an account of social interaction in their dissertation that focuses on contextual aspects of it. While Gen has been preoccupied with work on their dissertation in the last couple of months, with little time for anything else, they actually enjoy solitary activities like reading (they are currently catching up on LGBTQ history) and engaging in art in all kinds of ways. In the last three years, they have organized three art events.
I acknowledge that the land on which I sit to conduct these interviews is the traditional territory of the Haudensaunee and Anishnaabeg, covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and directly adjacent to Haldiman Treaty territory. I offer these interviews with respect and in the spirit of reconciliation.
My guest today is C Dalrymple-Fraser. C is currently a Ph.D. candidate and Vanier Scholar in the Department of Philosophy and Joint Centre for Bioethics at the University of Toronto. Their primary research interests include practical ethics (especially bioethics), social epistemology, and philosophy of disability, usually in combination, and not always in that order. C's dissertation will explore the roles of different kinds of " silences " and exclusions in health practices, with a focus on disabled and queer communities. In their spare time, C can be found resting or resisting with friends, visiting other people's pets, taking selfies with bees, and occasionally misplacing puzzle pieces and library books.
I acknowledge that the land on which I sit to conduct these interviews is the traditional territory of the Haudensaunee and Anishnaabeg, covered by the Upper Canada Treaties and directly adjacent to Haldiman Treaty territory. I offer these interviews with respect and in the spirit of reconciliation.
My guest today is Lori Gruen. Lori is the William Griffin Professor of Philosophy at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she also coordinates Wesleyan Animal Studies. These days, when she isn't thinking about disabled animals, mass incarceration, and problems of captivity and possibilities of sanctuary, Lori hangs out with her companions, Taz and Zinnia, kayaks, cooks vegan food, worries about climate change, and wishes that she had better luck gardening.
Welcome to Dialogues on Disability, Lori! You are a leading feminist philosopher who has taken a somewhat circuitous and unconventional path in your career. Please tell us about your background and how it led to your current position in the discipline and profession. Thanks so much for inviting me to be interviewed for your fantastic series, Shelley. I have found your interviews insightful and inspiring. I really appreciate the important interventions that you have urged to highlight what is overlooked in our profession. Occlusions and exclusions have been very motivating for me and my work, but they have also caused me to question my place in the profession.