Disabled adolescence – spaces, places and plans for the future
Recent theories of modernity, in particular the work of Anthony Giddens, have had a significant impact on youth research. However, Giddens has rarely taken the insights of disability research into account. Similarly, many disability scholars have criticized or even rejected his theoretical framework...
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| In: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/alterjdr, |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Language: | Anglais |
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Alter
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Summary: | Recent theories of modernity, in particular the work of Anthony Giddens, have had a significant impact on youth research. However, Giddens has rarely taken the insights of disability research into account. Similarly, many disability scholars have criticized or even rejected his theoretical framework. Thus, research on disabled adolescents has remained estranged from the mainstream of youth research. This paper aims to show that these two perspectives can be fruitfully combined. This proposition is developed through a case study, which is based on interviews of a disabled 15-year-old girl and her mother. Aspects of spatiality and mobility of the young adolescent are explored in her everyday practices as well as in her dreams and plans for the future. These interviews evidence that the informant’s everyday life is marked by disabling barriers in spaces and places; but they also put forward that her practices and plans reveal competence, reflexiveness and complexity. On the one hand, the substance of the interviews suggests that Giddens’ “ideal-typical” descriptions of late modernity may be inadequate, at least to the extent that they presuppose an able body in an almost barrier-free environment. On the other hand, the reported spatial practices can be enlightened by Giddens’ analyses of “dis-embedding” and “re-embedding.” To conclude, we recommend that disability studies integrate, adapt and develop “Giddensian” strands of modernisation theory, rather than dismiss them. |
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