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Body of Work

Pain and Interventions on the Body

yellow, pink, white, orange, and blue circular patterns

How do experiences concerning pain and bodily interventions impact the workplace and our working lives?

What are the consequences of both chronic and acute experiences of pain, due to ill health, disability, or interventions made on the body?

The third session of The Body of Work discussed the theme of ‘pain and interventions on the body’. We considered together, the consequences of chronic and acute experiences of pain, due to ill health, disability, or interventions made on the body. We discussed interactions between workplace practice and identities and how we might (re)shape organising to be more inclusive of such experiences. We considered physical and psychological perspectives on the topics and invited reflection on how experiences can be affected by intersecting elements of social positionality.

We also discussed the tensions and possibilities between academic and activist work. We drew from our own experiences of activism, academia, organizing, thinking, reading, writing, and other topics, to reflect on what academic activism is. We asked questions such as 'is it possible?' and 'where does it take place?' We discussed how we might engage in it and why, and ultimately, who and/or what the University is even for. Further third-sector practitioners; Ian Semmons of Action on PaIN, and Gus Rogers of Tang Soo Do joined us as panellists to share their experiences of agitating for change.

This third session came to a close with a workshop which included reflective activities, break-out rooms and group discussions. This workshop was dedicated to Collaboration: ‘Academia/activism: irresolvable tensions or fruitful possibilities?’ and led by Dr Olimpia Burchiellaro, and Beatrice Tura. In theworkshop we discussed the tensions and possibilities between academic and activist work. We drew from our own experiences of activism, academia, organizing, thinking, reading, writing amongst other topics, to reflect on what academic activism is. We asked questions such as 'is it possible?' and 'where does it take place?', how we might engage in it and why, and ultimately, who and/or what the University is even for.

Watch the video

For each session in the series, we collaborated with a performance company to develop a video resource that can be used to illustrate the content of the research themes. These creative responses to each topic are aimed toward sparking discussion, debate, and the development of inclusive workplace practices. You may wish to show these videos, and use the additional resources we have collated, in your work workplace as an way of starting discussions around the issues depicted.

Speakers

Dr Saoirse O’Shea

Department of People and Organisations, The Open University

Dr O’Shea works at The Open University as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of People and Organisations. Saoirse’s research is concerned with vulnerable people and particularly those of us who do not identify as a normative gender: “I include myself here as I’m a non-binary person who is currently undergoing gender affirmation with the NHS, a process that started officially 6 years ago but unofficially several lifetimes ago. I often use autoethnography to explore and write about my experiences and this presentation will likely take that form.”

Professor Kate Sang

Centre for research on employment work and the professions, Heriot Watt University

Kate’s research aims to improve working lives by understanding gender and disability discrimination. Working with universities, funders, trade unions and employers, Kate’s research explores how new ways of working and changes to organisational culture can reduce discrimination. Kate’s recent work includes gynaecological health in the workplace, disability inclusion in environmental work and disability inclusive science careers.

Dr Olimpia Burchiellaro

Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster

Olimpia is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations, School of Social Sciences, at the University of Westminster. Her primary research interests are in gender/sexuality, anthropology, politics, ethnography and queer theory. She is currently working on a project exploring the complicities and resistances between global corporations and local activists in global South/non-Western contexts.

Beatrice Tura

Area Studies, University of Portsmouth

Beatrice is a PhD student in Area Studies at the University of Portsmouth, developing a project on ‘Visual Representations of Minority Groups, Activism and the Everyday’. She has a background in anthropology and visual sociology. Over the years she has also been involved in several arts activities and events, such as UrbanPhotoFest, and she continues to chair the cultural association Urban Photo Hunts.

Ian Semmons

Chairman, Action on PaIN

Action of PaIN is a charity that support and advice for people affected by chronic pain.

Gus Rogers

Instructor, Tang Soo Do

Gus is an innovator in supporting and empowering disabled employees.

Explore what our speakers discussed:

Dr Saoirse O’Shea

Dr Saoirse O’Shea joined us as our guest speaker and gave a viseral autoethnographic account. This account interwove personal and often traumatic embodied experiences with a history of attitudes toward gender and gender normativity, tying together the material implications of social constructions. Dr O’Shea discussed body modification as a mode of empowerment and self-expression; as a way of providing ‘armour’ or unveiling deeper layers to oneself not otherwise embodied. As part of this work, Dr O’Shea explores the profound effect that organisations can have on our bodies and the degrees to which they have control over them.

The presentation was deeply moving and at times very difficult to listen to because of its raw content. This made it enlightening encounter both on an intellectual and embodied level. It gave rise to discussions about the social norms we hold about sex and gender, and the ways we think through our relation to ourselves and to others.

Gus Rogers

Our first practitioner speaker was Gus Rogers of Tang Soo Do. Gus shared with us his experiences of how the martial arts can play an important role in empowering young people through developing a positive and agentic relationship with one’s body.

Ian Semmons

Our second practitioner speaker was Ian Semmons, Chairman of Action on PaIN. Ian talked in detail from his personal experiences and many years of working to support others about the nuanced needs of those experiencing chronic pain, and recommended accommodations that can be put in place by employers.

These are the 10 key learned lessons from this event that we would like to share with organizations.

The sharing of people's life stories and experiences are extremely important in challenging inequality and shedding light on challenges – this is both in the context of academic autoethnographic narratives but also for organizations.
It is important to question and critique limiting frameworks that impose normative limits on people, especially binary conceptualizations regarding gender (e.g. male/female), health (e.g. healthy/sick), disability (e.g. able/disable) and other categories of difference.
Organizations must take a holistic and intersectional approach to inclusion, understanding that the individual experience across multiple protected categories is not simply additive, but it involves complex dynamics and challenges.
Chronic pain and disability can be both visible and invisible.
Workplaces must make reasonable adjustments (based on criteria around effectiveness, practicability, cost, disruption and the effects on others) to ensure enabling environments for all employees.
People who experience pain and suffer from chronic illness or disability at work are often required to spend more resources than others to carry out their duties – this includes time, requirements dictated by bureaucracy, money, and emotional labour.
Helping people overcome adversity can improve their confidence, enhance trust with the organization, and lead to empowerment. Lack of support can, on the other hand, result in resistance, under-performance, high turnover of staff and health related issues (both mental health and physical health).
Creating a culture of inclusion means also creating flexible systems that allow people to flourish – for example around self-disclosure and self-reporting; leave requests and flexible work hours; working from how or other work locations.
Some illnesses have ‘flare ups’ at unpredictable times and rarely need medical intervention; others involve continuous pain that can be managed individually. The same illness can be experienced in different ways by individuals, so it is important that line managers target individual needs.
There is still a lot of stigma around illness and disability in the workplace. Organizations should create or develop a culture whereby adjustments to foster equity are a basic expectation, rather than being considered a form of ‘special treatment’ that employees need to feel guilty, or grateful, for.

Explore our workshops

Dr Ilaria Boncori

Email: iboncori@essex.ac.uk

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