‘You are a parasite on the productive classes’: online disablist hate speech in austere times

Burch, Leah (2017) ‘You are a parasite on the productive classes’: online disablist hate speech in austere times. Disability & Society, 33 (3). pp. 392-415. ISSN 0968-7599

Text All_Parasites_Should_Perish_ OA.docx Download (110kB)

Abstract

In response to a climate of austerity, disability has been keyed to a meta-narrative that has a political purpose, to justify extensive welfare cuts by positioning disability as a drain on so-called ‘hard-working taxpayers’. This paper explores how this meta-narrative is articulated on the online bulletin board, Reddit, to show how disablist hate speech may emerge as an attempt to secure one’s sense of self during austere times. A critical discourse analysis (CDA) is employed to reveal these instances and highlights the normalisation of disablist hate speech within the wider context of welfare dependency. Based on these findings, this paper makes recommendations for future research and makes a call for policy change.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Disability Studies on December 7th, 2017 available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2017.1411250
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Leah Burch
Date Deposited:	02 Oct 2020 12:20
Last Modified:	02 Oct 2020 12:20
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3154

Actions (login required)

View Item