While significant research has been produced in the field of disability studies, little attention has been paid to experiences of chronic illness. Working Bodies emphasizes the workplace as an important site for understanding such experiences, as employment status has an enormous impact on social and economic standing in Canadian society. The essays in this collection examine the perspectives of both workers and employers, painting a disturbing picture of the challenges that people with chronic illness face in an already demanding labour market. The focus on the Canadian workplace allows for an in-depth understanding of this context and for meaningful comparisons between populations and across workplace environments. Contributors include scholars and practitioners in disability studies, health sciences, geography, occupational therapy, sociology, and labour relations, their expert knowledge ranging from the imperatives of employers, to lived experiences of chronic illness, to the application of workplace policy. By combining research-based chapters with personal reflections on work and chronic illness, Working Bodies grounds itself in existing scholarship while opening up new avenues of discussion. Contributors include Terri Aversa, Andrea Black, Keri Cameron (McMaster University), Nicolette Carlan (University of Waterloo), Vera Chouinard (McMaster University), Valorie A, Crooks (Simon Fraser University), Julie Devaney, Le-Ann Dolan, Adam Gilgoff, Nancy Hutchinson (Queen's University), Vicki Kristman (Lakehead University), Terry Krupa (Queen's University), Rosemary Lysaght (Queen's University), Margaret Oldfield (University of Toronto), Michelle Owen (University of Winnipeg), Melissa Popiel, Wendy Porch, William S. Shaw (University of Massachusetts), Corinne Stevens, Iffath Syed (York University), Joan Versnel (Dalhousie University), and Kelly Williams-Whitt (University of Lethbridge).

Sharon-Dale Stone is professor and chair of sociology at Lakehead University.

Sharon-Dale Stone's profile page

Valorie A. Crooks is associate professor in the Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University.

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Michelle Owen is Associate Professor of Gender Studies and Coordinator of Disability Studies at the University of Winnipeg. Her primary teaching and research interests and publications are focused on gender, sexuality, family, chronic illness, and disability.

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“Working Bodies is a major contribution to research in the field of chronic illness and injury, especially in addressing work-related issues for those impacted. The notion that lived experience for those with chronic illness, especially at work is ‘capricious’ and ‘laced with uncertainty’ is so true and is captured very well in this important and immensely readable collection.” Margaret H. Vickers, School of Business, University of Western Sydney