In Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha explores the principles of disability justice. Rather than centring normative ideas about bodies and ability, the book recognises every body as unique and essential, with both strengths and needs that deserve recognition and support. The motto "Nothing about us without us" runs throughout the book.
Through a series of essays, the author explores a wide range of topics, highlighting the close connections between disability justice and feminism. Topics include collective access and accessibility, unpaid care labour and the care economy, suicide, validism and anti-ableism, sexual violence, patriarchal gender norms and intersecting forms of oppression. Drawing on their own lived experience of chronic illness and disability, Piepzna-Samarasinha combines personal reflection with critical, precise analysis and practical ideas for building disability justice.
The accessible writing style and essay format make it easy to read at your own pace. While the book centers sick and disabled experiences, it offers valuable insights for anyone interested in social justice.
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha describes themselves as a queer, non-binary femme American-Canadian writer, poet, performance artist, author, and transformative justice worker with Tamil Sri Lankan and Irish roots. They are sick, disabled and autistic. Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha is the author or co-editor of eleven books, including ‘The Way Disabled People Love Each Other’, ‘The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes and Mourning Songs’, and ‘Beyond Survival: Stories and Strategies from the Transformative Justice Movement’.
Practical information
This book club is co-organised by Wheelies and RoSa. This session will be held in English and co-hosted by Bethan Burnside (Wheelies) and Myriam Halimi (RoSa vzw). Bethan Burnside is a neuroscientist turned curator, science communicator, and community builder working at the intersection of science, art, and health. They bring disability justice approaches and their own lived experience to their work, with a strong focus on participatory and inclusive methods.
Myriam Halimi is a gender advisor at RoSa and has worked on inclusion, equity and anti-discrimination for the past thirteen years. Myriam combines both professional expertise on social justice and lived experience with chronic illnesses.
The book is available in the RoSa library in English and can be borrowed.
- Who: Everyone is welcome, whether you have read the entire book or are just curious about the themes. Come along to listen, reflect, and join the conversation.
- Language: This session will be hosted in English
- Registration: The event is free, but registration is required. You can register via this link
- When?: Saturday 27 February, from 2-4 p.m.
- Where? Wheelies, cité des associations, in Saint-Gilles, Brussels and online (the online participation link will be shared with registered participants a few days prior to the event)
- Accessibility: The venue, including the toilets, is wheelchair accessible. There will be water and vegan glutenfree snacks available. Online participants will have access to live transcription. A member of the organising team will also monitor the online chat to ensure online participants can fully take part in the discussion.