All Outputs (4)

Normative Language and Judgements of Cognition: A Methodological Reflection on Difficult Sign Language Interactions (2025)
Journal Article
Modern, J. (in press). Normative Language and Judgements of Cognition: A Methodological Reflection on Difficult Sign Language Interactions. Medicine Anthropology Theory, 12(2),

In this article, I investigate the case of a deaf woman, Silivia, who lived in western Uganda. Silivia did not use standardised sign language and was commonly considered to be ‘mad.’ However, some of her interlocutors disagreed, arguing that percepti... Read More about Normative Language and Judgements of Cognition: A Methodological Reflection on Difficult Sign Language Interactions.

Claiming ‘disability’ and being ‘a weak person’: legal and relational approaches to bodilymental difference in western Uganda (2025)
Journal Article
Modern, J. (2025). Claiming ‘disability’ and being ‘a weak person’: legal and relational approaches to bodilymental difference in western Uganda. Africa, 95(1), 21-41. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0001972025000130

This article, based on eighteen months of fieldwork with an organization of women with disabilities in Uganda, considers discourses about bodilymental variation that circulated among members and non-members of the organization. I identify two common... Read More about Claiming ‘disability’ and being ‘a weak person’: legal and relational approaches to bodilymental difference in western Uganda.

Adjusting for time but not money: financial barriers to PhD study for people with long-term health conditions in the UK. (2024)
Book Chapter
Modern, J. K. (2024). Adjusting for time but not money: financial barriers to PhD study for people with long-term health conditions in the UK. In K. F. Robinson, M. Carew, & N. Groce (Eds.), Inaccessible Access: Rethinking Disability Inclusion in Academic Knowledge Creation (73-94). Rutgers University Press. https://doi.org/10.36019/9781978841482-006

'Deaf people are one, as they say': articulating 'Deaf Space' and deaf-hearing communication in a Ugandan market (2024)
Journal Article
Modern, J. (online). 'Deaf people are one, as they say': articulating 'Deaf Space' and deaf-hearing communication in a Ugandan market. Language in Society, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404524000447

This article investigates visual communication practices among members of a disabled people's organisation (DPO) in a market in Uganda. Deaf members and many of the hearing members are proficient in Ugandan Sign Language (UgSL) and use it daily. I ex... Read More about 'Deaf people are one, as they say': articulating 'Deaf Space' and deaf-hearing communication in a Ugandan market.