The Work of Inclusion: An Ethnography of Grace, Sin, and Intellectual Disabilities

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Using ethnographic research, The Work of Inclusion brings the standpoints of people with intellectual disabilities to the forefront of the theological conversation around disability, inclusion, grace, and sin. In a world shaped by interdependency, developing a theological attunement to intellectual disability helps us to understand that human agency is both enabled by and limited by dependency relationships. Only by recognizing the kinds of complex layers of agency seen in this ethnographic study can Christian ethics more broadly address the place of hope, grace, and resistance against structures of sin and injustice.

Reviews

Lorraine Cuddeback-Gedeon's The Work of Inclusion upends the approach to theology by a lone researcher in the library stacks and at the computer to be with the subjects of her research, using the tools of ethnography, and engaging directly with the subjects of her work: People with Intellectual and Developmental Disability. This research navigates the inclination to impose meaning on encounters between the ethnographer and her subjects. Cuddeback-Gedeon successfully risks eliciting non-discursive communication with her subjects by turning deftly toward discovering an embodied communication, through a conscious of shared humanity, and fashioned by solidaristic reflexivity. -- Mary Jo Iozzio, Boston College, USA
The area of theological ethnography is growing in popularity and scope. At heart it seeks to explore what God is doing in the world. In the same way as systematic theology scrupulously examines scripture and tradition to discover what God has done, theological ethnography uses ethnography for theological purposes: to discover what God is going within Gods people now. To date the issue of disability in general an intellectual disability in particular have not really been a focus for this emerging discipline In this book, Lorraine Cuddeback-Gedeon breaks new ground in using ethnography to develop new perspectives on the theology of disability. The book is a fascinating and liberating exploration of theology and disability and an important contribution to the ongoing conversations within the field. -- John Swinton, University of Aberdeen, UK

Author Bio

Lorraine V. Cuddeback-Gedeon is Assistant Professor of Theology at Mount St Mary's University, USA.