The Funambulist #19 - The Space of Ableism

This volume is dedicated to a political struggle that has been too seldom addressed throughout the pages of past issues and that nevertheless very much mobilizes “the politics of space and bodies” that The Funambulist proposes to discuss: the fight against ableism. 

Just like structural racism should be addressed through considerations about white supremacy, and homophobia through considerations about heteronormativity, we should not consider disabled bodies without the system that creates such a category in the first place, namely ableism. In other words, disability, as we understand it in this issue (and as some of us experience it) is not an anatomic, biological, or neurological condition but, rather, a political one. 

This issue proposes a historical and contemporary examination of eugenic state legislation and border control (Natalie Spagnuolo), personal relationships to the ableist public space (No Anger, Kengné Téguia), a report and a manual on how to instigate anti-ableist methodologies in architecture schools (Sarah Gunawan, Jos Boys), a proposition for UNESCO to integrate the history of war and disabilities in its accessibility program (David Gissen), reflection on choreographic practices (Farah Saleh & Adrienne Hart), and two architecture student projects (Lucy Satzewich, Brian Lee). The “News from the Fronts” section gives us updates of political struggles in Okinawa (Ayano Ginoza), the Grenfell Tower in London (Colin Prescod), Kanaky-New Caledonia (Nathalie Muchamad), and Leros Island (Beth Hughes & Platon Issaias).