A Critical Geography Perspective of Racialization of Dis/Ability

• In Event: Spaces and Places: A Continued Exploration of DisCrit in Educational Research

Abstract

Using interdisciplinary frameworks drawn from literature in disability studies, critical geography, educational policy studies, and sociology, this proposed paper is aimed at investigating the socio-spatial-historical context of racial disproportionality in special education and school discipline in Riverside School District (RSD) and its community. In particular, this study sought to understand how larger systemic structures work together to spatially other racially and economically minoritized families and students through multiple levels of exclusion, including disability identification. Data were collected from 2018 to 2020 through interviews and extensive analysis of school district and municipality documents. The paper argues that the assumption about dis/ability is deeply anchored in the larger context of exclusion at the community level, indicating the legacies of housing segregation.

Author

• Dian Mawene, University of Wisconsin - Madison