Real issues, real people, real data: how lived experience can contribute to a more equitable society - CANCELLED

In psychology, qualitative data is often collected by talking to people about their experiences of a phenomena. But might there be different ways to understand what certain experiences are like? Given the increased access we have to photography, how might young adults use photos to express what it is like to live with a chronic, ‘unseen’, health condition whilst claiming UK welfare (e.g. PIP, ESA or UC)? Can psychological theory help us understand what these photos may represent? I argue that this holistic approach to data may help improve how welfare eligibility is assessed.

We might think we know how to recognise a disabled person. But do we really? And does it depend on who is doing the looking? The wheelchair is the ultimate symbol of disability, yet is used by less than 10% of disabled people. In recent years, campaigns have highlighted that “not all disabilities are visible”, but do they reinforce the problem? This talk will explore how ideas about difference and disability are created and reproduced, and discuss the real-life consequences for disabled people for both looking and not looking ‘disabled’, challenging us to think differently about disability.

For over a decade in the UK, food banks have grown rapidly and become a normalised and increasingly institutionalised ‘response’ to poverty and insecurity. Now more than ever, ‘emergency’ food is playing a key role in responding to the needs of those most vulnerable to the effects of the cost of living crisis. In this talk, I reflect on alternatives to the current charitable food model, which is often stigmatising and inadequate to meet peoples’ needs. I also outline the power and potential of solidarity to challenge and change dominant narratives around poverty and food insecurity.