d.goodley@sheffield.ac.uk & k.runswick-cole@mmu.ac.uk Big Society? Disabled People with Learning Disabilities and Civil Society This research project is a collaboration between Manchester Metropolitan University; The University of Sheffield; The University of Bristol and Northumbria University as well as SpeakUp; Mencap; Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities; Pathways Associates; Manchester Learning Disability Partnership and Independent Living Advisors Pete Crane, Wendy Crane, Max Neill & Helen Smith We ask: how are people with learning disabilities faring in a time of Big Society? For more details, please visit: bigsocietydis@wordpress.com Follow: @bigsocietydis Briefing Card 2: Rethinking labour through disability Big Society? Disabled People with Learning Disabilities & Civil Society d.goodley@sheffield.ac.uk & k.runswick-cole@mmu.ac.uk

Disability, Austerity & Slow Death We found that: In time of austerity (spending cuts) we are told to ‘make do and mend’; We live in a time when people who are ‘able’ to ‘work hard’ are valued most; we call this ‘neo-liberal ableism’; In a time of cuts, many people are forced to work very hard; Lauren Berlant calls this ‘slow death’; But the cuts that affect disabled people mean that they might die more quickly; Some types of work are valued more highly than others. For example, being a lawyer is paid more highly than being a carer. We suggest that: Dis/ability is a good place to start thinking about how we might labour (work) differently. Goodley, D., Lawthom, R. and Runswick-Cole, K. (2014) Dis/ability and austerity: beyond work and slow death, Disability & Society 29 (6): 980-984