Between hopes and possibilities. (Special) educational paths, agency and subjectivities

Anna-Maija Niemi; Reetta Mietola

doi:10.1080/15017419.2016.1239588

Between hopes and possibilities. (Special) educational paths, agency and subjectivities

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

Volume 19 (2017): Issue 3

By: Anna-Maija Niemi and Reetta Mietola

Open Access

|Oct 2017

Abstract

The article explores educational paths of disabled young people in Finland. Our approach is life-historical: we are interested in how individual paths are formed by historically and culturally specific discourses and practices, and in the cultural understandings concerning disability and educability these carry. We also focus on questions of subjectivity and agency by asking how individuals positioned in these practices build an understanding of themselves, and of the possibilities and obstacles in their educational path. Two life-history interviews are analysed in detail. Our analysis highlights the persistence of stereotypical cultural narratives of disability in the life stories. In addition, it suggests that disability rights discourse has provided an important counter discourse for disabled young adults – a new way of conceptualizing self and one's educational path.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15017419.2016.1239588 | Journal eISSN: 1745-3011

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Language: English

Page range: 218 - 229

Submitted on: Mar 14, 2015

Accepted on: Jan 4, 2016

Published on: Oct 3, 2017

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

Disabled young adults,

educational paths,

life-history,

agency,

subjectivity

© 2017 Anna-Maija Niemi, Reetta Mietola, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 19 (2017): Issue 3