The work of Judith Butler has had hugely influence within different field of critical thinkers and her book Gender Trouble (1990) is regarded as a ‘break through’ within gender studies. It contributed a radical shift in how we came to see ourselves as gendered beings. The main point is that individuals ‘become gendered’ through performative acts. This gives individuals agency, however, the performativity of gender takes place in relation to certain gender norms within a context. Judith Butler sees both sex and gender as something that becomes ‘reality’ through performing. This concerns ontology and is a controversial point within her theory. I was introduced to the thinking of Judith … [Read more...] about Tone Dahl-Michelsen – Gender trouble – 30DoS #11
Catherine Sykes – The ICF – 30DoS #10
Published in 2001 the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) has stimulated a change in understanding of what is understood as human functioning and the role of the environment in the experience of functioning. I was involved in the development of ICF and have continued to work on the implementation of the model and classifications in health and social welfare data collections. Whilst the model has informed the education and practice of physical therapists the adoption of the classification for statistics has been slow. Why? Some argue that it is too detailed, too complicated. The key to ICF is to keep the individual as the … [Read more...] about Catherine Sykes – The ICF – 30DoS #10
Patty Thille – The body multiple – 30DoS #9
The Body Multiple is an ethnographic experiment: an ethnography of a disease. Mol studies clinical work practices, examining what athlerosclerosis is in different parts of the same hospital. The simple answer: what athlerosclerosis is varies depending on where you study it being made into an object. Mol found that we cannot assume these dispersed enactments are different perspectives of the same disease. Instead, different objects co-exist under the name ‘athlerosclerosis’. “Multiplicity” is her term for this phenomenon of an object being more than one but less than two. TBM has been highly influential in science & technology studies. TBM opened up study of what Mol calls “ontological … [Read more...] about Patty Thille – The body multiple – 30DoS #9