Ableism refers to the unequal treatment of people based on abilities. Depending on what someone looks like and what gender the person has, where they come from, whether they are poor or wealthy, disabled or non-disabled, someone is considered able or unable (in a certain situation or generally). Disability activists, their allies and scholars have, under the term ableism, criticized these notions of normal, able bodies and the discrimination against disabled people that they lead to. At the same time, feminist scholars from the field of Disability Studies, a discipline for the critical study of disability, have long emphasized that a binary (two-part) distinction between disabled and nondisabled/able-bodied is artificial. Ableism basically affects everyone whose body or lifestyle deviates from the norm of ability and productivity. Laws and institutions (e.g. in the education system or the welfare system) create ableism by differentiating between able and unable or eligible and ineligible people, so not everyone has the same access to education or social services.

Through our collaboration in the first year of the research project, we have developed a working definition of ableism that brings our diverse perspectives together. Defining ableism is an ongoing process, hence working definition. Outlining our understanding of ableism in the context of our collaboration is beneficial for our forthcoming analysis of different sources of ableism in academia and activism.

Our current understanding of ableism (as of October 2024) includes:

Ableism as

• part of larger structure/ideology/system/set of practices and institutions
• discrimination, prejudice, stereotypes and oppression of disabled people
• related to disablism
• hierarchisation and judgement
• intersectional/intersecting with other discrimination
• exclusion and othering
• invisible, unnamed, something people are unaware of
• internalised – making us doubt our capacity
• affecting all people and all areas of life
• related to capitalism and expectations of productivity and beauty
• presumption of able-bodiedness
• systemic and micro discrimination on the basis of ability
• …

To be continued, revised and challenged…