Doctoral Dissertation Research: Disability, Technology, and Labor

残疾的定义在时间和空间上有很大的不同。在定义残疾时，一个关键的考虑因素是一个人能够通过他们的劳动产生什么。什么形式的劳动被认为是与技术有关的有用和有价值的变化。因此，技术影响人们的劳动方式，进而影响残疾的定义。这一博士论文研究项目调查了技术劳动中的差异如何与不同形式的残疾相交，从而影响对残疾的理解、价值和体验。除了培训一名科学文化人类学博士生外，这项研究还向学术和非学术受众广泛传播研究成果，包括政策专家和残疾人利益攸关方。这项研究的中心问题涉及数字劳动与残疾的定义和评估之间的关系。调查人员在雇用残疾人的组织中进行为期12个月的人种学研究。他们使用参与者观察、参与性研究、访谈和文件分析来了解1)什么形式的劳动被理解为对生产力最关键；2)工作环境如何影响残疾员工的残疾经历；3)某些技术的估值中更广泛的政治和文化差异如何影响残疾的估值和定义。这种对工作和残疾的多层次调查将有助于理解哪些因素预测残疾如何得到接纳和评估。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Definitions of disability vary significantly across time and space. A key consideration in defining disability revolves around what an individual is able to produce as a result of their labor. What forms of labor are deemed useful and valuable change in relation to technology. Thus, technology affects how people labor, in turn impacting how disability is defined. This doctoral dissertation research project investigates how variation in technological labor intersects with different forms of disability to affect how disability is understood, valued, and experienced. In addition to training a doctoral student in scientific cultural anthropology, this research disseminates research broadly to academic and non-academic audiences, including policy experts and stakeholders with disabilities. The central question of this research concerns the relationship between digital labor and definitions and valuations of disability. The investigators conduct twelve months of ethnographic research among organizations employing persons with disabilities. They use participant observation, participatory research, interviews, and document analysis to understand 1) what forms of labor are understood to be most critical for productivity; 2) how work environments affect experiences of disability among employees with disabilities; and 3) how broader political and cultural variation in the valuation of certain technologies affect valuations and definitions of disability. This multi-level investigation of work and disability will inform understandings of what factors predict how disability is accommodated and valued.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.