Abstract:

This article discusses the dilemmas encountered by non-disabled performance researchers and practitioners working with learning-disabled people. I demonstrate how the 'accounts' of empirical social scientists informed my PARIP [practice-as-research-in-performance] project, BluYesBlu, and how Judith Butler's reformulation of the concept of ethics, from the responsibility of the individual to negotiations within social relations, has revealed the complexity of the tensions between 'othering' and 'normalising' tendencies within this practice.

Keywords: learning difficulties; performance; ethics; identity formation

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1080/13569780802655830

Affiliations: 1: Institute of Humanities and Creative Arts, University of Worcester, Worcester, UK