Disability arts in an age of austerity

Abstract

In this Chapter I consider if and if so how the current ‘age of austerity’ is impacting on arts practices, and in particular arts-based protest practices, by people with disabilities. Much has been written about austerity as neoliberal economic, political, social and ideological agenda – and about the way groups effected by governmental shifts towards austerity are protesting– in recent years. The question of whether disabled artists are adapting their practices to address these changing cultural circumstances has received less attention. In this Chapter, I consider recent art-based protest practices about austerity, funding cuts, and the lack of care for the most vulnerable in society these cuts are seen to signify. I identify interesting and potentially risky trends in practice responding to this changed operating climate.