Living and Working Precariously with an Episodic Disability: Barriers in the Canadian Context

Authors

  • Andrea Vick Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v3i3.171

Keywords:

Episodic Disability, Precarious Employment, Barriers, Discrimination, Accommodation, Recommendations

Abstract

The organization of contemporary labour markets has radically altered the nature of work and its embodied or bodily performance. Changes from standard, permanent jobs to non-standard or precarious work arrangements have increasingly become the normative template for many workers, including persons with disabilities. Drawing on findings from 13 qualitative interviews associated with ‘Project EDGE,’ Episodic Disabilities in the Global Economy, I describe how Canadian workers with “episodic” or fluctuating disabilities experience and negotiate barriers to work within precarious work environments in Toronto, Ontario. Implications that consider the episodic dimension of disability for workforce participation and employment policy are considered.

Author Biography

Andrea Vick, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto

Andrea Vick, PhD is a Research Associate at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. Her research focuses on episodic disability, employment, and disability law.

How to Cite

Vick, A. (2014). Living and Working Precariously with an Episodic Disability: Barriers in the Canadian Context. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 3(3), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v3i3.171

Issue

Section

Articles