Histories of Resistance: Disability, Agency and Embodiment in the Long Eighteenth Century

Disabled people’s political activism is often assumed to be a product of the modern age, but for centuries people with physical, sensory and intellectual impairments have found ways to push back against negative societal framings of bodily difference and advocate for their needs. This paper explores the manifold dimensions of disabled people’s resistance in Britain from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Using sources ranging from Poor Law petitions to autobiographies and works of history and biography, it examines the strategies by which people with impairments from a range of social backgrounds have represented their experiences, claimed community with people in similar situations, and asserted a moral right to compassionate treatment by others in society. The paper provides an overview of developments while asking questions about how we frame disabled people’s political activism over the longue durée, how pre-modern perspectives can deepen our understanding of disabled people’s histories, and how we can develop more inclusive eighteenth-century studies.

This seminar aims to create a welcoming space for discussion and debate, fostering a professional environment where diverse views and perspectives can be shared. You can find more on this via our seminar page on the IHR website.

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All welcome. This event is free to attend, but advance registration is required.

This will be a ‘hybrid’ seminar with a limited number of places available in person and a larger number of bookings for online attendance via Zoom. Those attending in person are asked to bring a Wi-Fi enabled laptop, tablet or phone.

The session will start at the slightly later time of 17:30.