The Problem with Inclusion
Inclusion is done to someone by someone. The case for nonclusion.
What it is
Inclusion involves choice. It is always done to someone by someone else. This drawing is my attempt to capture what being “included” can feel like: a large person leaning over and looking down at a small person in a wheelchair.
In the paper behind it, Stina Ericsson and I argue that the problem with “inclusion” is not the word but the structure it keeps in place. To include someone, there has to be a “we” who include and a “them” to be included. The sorting into those two groups comes first, before anyone is welcomed in. Nonclusion begins from the other end: everyone already belongs, and design’s task is to recognise that.
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References
- Hedvall, P.-O., & Ericsson, S. (2024). The Problem with "Inclusion"? It Is Done to Someone by Someone. In Universal Design 2024: Shaping a Sustainable, Equitable and Resilient Future for All (pp. 18–25). IOS Press. https://doi.org/10.3233/SHTI240978
License: Open Educational Resource
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