CRHESI co-coordinator James Shelley explores the term ‘People with lived experience’ through a critical lens in a recent blog post about the evolution of attitudes and nomenclature:
Then it struck me, the term ‘people with lived experience’ only changes semantics, not attitudes and assumptions. Whether you say people experience homelessness or are homeless, the fundamental question is what you presume and presuppose about the concept of homelessness itself. Psychologically speaking, the influence of our syntax is quite limited here: rejigging the subject and predicate of a sentence does not somehow automatically override the feelings and beliefs we have internalized about the nature of homelessness. Even though the new term grammatically reframes homelessness as a condition instead of an identity, it nonetheless continues to carry the assumptions, biases, and stigmas of its speakers and hearers.
Read the entire article here.
Do you have some food for thought, or a reflection, analysis, or critique you would like to share with the CRHESI community? Email us at info[at]crhesi.ca and let us know.