Gender, Work and Health Journal Club

Who: Julia Gray (Facilitator)
Why: … because “One of the reasons people stop learning is that they become less and less willing to risk failure.” [John W. Gardner]

Reading for the month: Chapter: “Introduction: Low Theory”
Halberstam, J. (2011). The Queer Art of Failure: Duke University Press.
Available online at http://search.library.utoronto.ca/ [PDF copy available at request]

Anticipated discussion points to consider:

1. How does Halberstam’s notion of failure and her encouragement for us to re-think notions of success shade the way we might think about disability?
2. What do you think of how Halberstam links ‘failure’ with ‘queerness’ and ‘feminism’ (p. ~2-4)? What might Halberstam’s linkages mean for how we approach gender in health research?
3. How might Halberstam’s call for embracing ‘undisciplinarity’ or ‘anitdisciplinarity’ inform the way we approach health research? What do you think of Halberstam’s claim that (following Foucault) disciplines are a “technique of modern power” that “squash rather than promote quirky and original thought” (p. 7)? What do you think about Halberstam’s advocacy for ‘antidisciplinarity’ or ‘undisciplinarity’ through her tenets: “Resist Mastery” (p. 11-12); “Privilege the naïve and nonsensical (stupidity)” (p. 12-14); “Suspect memorialization” (p. 15)?
4. What do you think about Halberstam’s claim that certain forms of ‘low’ knowledge or “knowledge from below” (p. 11) are disqualified or seen as ‘lesser’ or ‘unvaluable’ in many disciplines and through many approaches to research? How does this link with health research?

ALL ARE WELCOME!

For additional inquiries or to obtain an electronic copy of the reading, please contact reema.shafi@mail.utoronto.ca