Taking a Feminist Disability Studies Approach to Fundamental British Values

Abstract

In this article, Fundamental British Values (FBV) are understood as a token attempt toward societal inclusion and empowerment of all citizens. Rather than providing meaningful routes for all individuals to be included in British citizenship, FBV are built on foundations of “inclusionism”—the inclusion of marginalized identity groups in society, on the premise that existing social structures are not threatened. Disabled women’s responses to sociocultural stereotypes surrounding disability and gender are interpreted through a feminist disability studies lens. Empirical data, gathered within a larger research project which examined disabled women’s responses to the representation of disabled women in Anglo-American advertising, are drawn on and connections are made between the growing trend of promoting diversity in advertising, and superficial approaches to diversity and empowerment of all citizens, enacted in FBV. Two key themes underpin this critical discussion: participant resistance to “pity” narratives surrounding the portrayal of disabled women in advertising and disabled women’s navigation of “belonging” in exclusionary environments.

Fundamental British Values

“…Indeed, recent research into 'Cheddar Gorge man' has demonstrated that Britons originally had 'dark to black skin'. 4 Diversity of race, religion, ethnicity, ability, and culture were deemed to be 'British' by the Romans, but such attributes now-since the 'War on Terror' though seem to construct the subaltern, internal other (Taras, 2013), an enemy within, an enemy to be feared, an enemy to be othered (see Houston, 2020).…”

Can National Identity Ever Have “Fundamental Values”?

“…In this symposium, we explored aspects of the historical, philosophical, political, and educational aspects of national identity and its translation into curricular and educational arenas. What emerged from this symposium was a radical reexamination and exploration of FBV which included issues around historical and contemporary definitions of British Values (Stronach & Frankham, 2020;Hodkinson, 2020), the implications of FBV for Muslim home educators (Pattison, 2020a, Pattison, 2020b, how FBV may be understood as a token attempt toward societal inclusion and empowerment of all citizens (Houston, 2020) and, finally, a paper which reflects analytically on FBV and its wider implications for alternative education through expressions of Foucauldian governmentality of self-surveillance and management (Pattison, 2020a).…”