Miro Griffiths

MBE
Born (1989-05-29) May 29, 1989
Birkenhead
NationalityBritish
Slovene
Alma materUniversity of Liverpool
University of Leeds
Liverpool John Moores University

Miro Griffiths (born 29 May 1989) is a British disability advocate who is a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellow based at the University of Leeds, in the School of Sociology and Social Policy. He is also deputy director of the Centre for Disability Studies, an interdisciplinary research centre exploring disabled people's oppression, marginalisation, and liberation.[1]

Early life and education

Born in the Wirral, Griffiths went to West Kirby Primary School. He wanted to go to Hilbre High School but was unable to do so because of its inaccessibility.[2] He instead went to Woodchurch High School and then Birkenhead Sixth Form.[3] His father, David, was an Aerospace Engineer and his mother, Helena, a Slovenian writer. He has one sibling, Jan Griffiths.[4]

At thirteen years old, he received a Millennium Award which led to the conceptualised development of a computer game promoting disability equality.[5]

Griffiths studied psychology at the University of Liverpool,[6] and subsequently a Master's in Disability Studies at the University of Leeds.[7] He completed his PhD on young disabled people in the Disabled People's Movement at Liverpool John Moores University.[8][9]

Personal life

Griffiths lives on the Wirral[10] with his partner, Emma Fairweather, who is a bioscientist.[11] He is a power wheelchair user, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (Type II)[12] and receives 24-hour personal healthcare assistance. Griffiths has spoken about the importance of self-directed support, the use of personal budgets to coordinate assistance, and the blending of human and technological support infrastructure.[13][14]

In interviews, Griffiths has highlighted political support for the Labour Party (UK)[15] and the Green Party (UK).[16] He often positions himself as a pragmatic socialist.[15][17][18] He has argued for a “politics of opportunity”, which is focused on supporting individuals and communities to be creative, imaginative, and experimental in building accessible and inclusive societies for all.[19][20]

Academic work

Griffiths began working as a Teaching Fellow in Disability Studies at the University of Leeds in 2018.[21] He was awarded a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship, at the University of Leeds, in 2020.[22] Since then, he has been the Principal Investigator on the Disability Activism in Europe project. This project explores young disabled people's experiences and views of disability activism across Europe.[23] His project has received media attention from the BBC (UK).[24] and US documentary filmmakers[25]

Griffiths is the deputy director of the Centre for Disability Studies[26] at the University of Leeds. Griffiths is an Executive Editor for the International Journal of Disability and Social Justice[27] and Managing Editor for the Journal of Disability Studies in Education.[28]

In September 2022, Griffiths was recognised by the International Sociological Association and awarded “Sociologist of the Month”[29] in recognition for his research and publications.[30][31][32][33][34] He was an Invited Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts for recognition to Social Movement Studies.[35][36]

Griffiths is a former strategic and confidential adviser to the UK Government (Labour, and Conservative – LibDem coalition, administrations)[37][38] and former adviser to the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission.[39] He continues to provide policy advice to the UK Government,[40] European Commission[41] and Liverpool City Region.[42]

Griffiths has made appearances discussing disability, politics, culture and society on the BBC,[43][44] iNews,[45] the Telegraph,[46] HuffPost, the Herald[47] and the Scotsman.[48] Griffiths has also written for The Conversation.[49] He has appeared on 'The Human Rights Podcast',[50] the 'Digital Disability Podcast',[51] 'The Football Collective'[52] and Council of Europe.[53]

Activism

Griffiths is an advocate of disabled people's political status, rights, and pursuit for liberation. He has spoken publicly about his commitment to the social model of disability,[54] independent living philosophy[55] and disabled people's organisations. He has taken on board positions within the European Network on Independent living,[56] Independent Living Institute,[57] Alliance for Inclusive Education,[58] and DaDaFest.[59] He is a critic of assisted suicide, and is a part of the Not Dead Yet movement.[60]

Griffiths was part of the UK delegation, in New York (2006), at the Signing Ceremony for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.[61]

He was awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours list 2014.[5] He was also named as an influential disabled activist by the Disability News Service.[62]

References

  1. ↑ ESSL. "Miro Griffiths". essl.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  2. ↑ Caulfield, Kevin. ""How Was School?" Interviews with Disabled People about their experience of Education over the last 100 years" (PDF). Alliance for Inclusive Education – via British Library.
  3. ↑ Woodchurch High School. "Woodchurch High School Awards Evening" (PDF). Woodchurch High School.
  4. ↑ "MIRO MARVELS". 2001.
  5. 1 2 "Disability campaigner made MBE". BBC News. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  6. ↑ Griffiths, Miro. "Self Perception: How Do Disabled Students Value Themselves?". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ↑ Griffiths, Miro. "The Responsibility of Direct Payments: Exploratory Research to Examine How Young Disabled People Manage Their Care". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ↑ Griffiths, Miro. "These Days Are Ours: Exploring Young Disabled People's Experiences and Views of the Disabled People's Movement" (PDF). Liverpool John Moores University.
  9. ↑ "The Notion of Becoming". www.ljmu.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "Fairness and Social Justice Advisory Board".
  11. ↑ "Emma Fairweather".
  12. ↑ "Dr Griffiths speaks out against assisted suicide".
  13. ↑ "Let's talk about how I manage my direct payment" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "Reducing process, increasing choice and control" (PDF).
  15. 1 2 "Labour conference: party must do more on the rights and inclusion".
  16. ↑ "Past events".
  17. ↑ "The legacy of Jeremy Corbyn".
  18. ↑ "Impact of the financial crash".
  19. ↑ "Disabled people should push for radical overhaul of society after pandemic".
  20. ↑ "Candidate Joe Biden".
  21. ↑ "Introducing new CDS team member, Miro Griffiths MBE".
  22. ↑ "Dr Miro Griffiths".
  23. ↑ "About the project".
  24. ↑ "BBC Radio Merseyside".
  25. ↑ "Extending the link documentary".
  26. ↑ "About Miro Griffiths".
  27. ↑ "International Journal of disability and social justice".
  28. ↑ "Editorial board".
  29. ↑ "Sociologist of the month – September 2022".
  30. ↑ "Declare Independence : Independent Living, Oppositional Devices, and Heterotopias. The International Journal of Disability and Social Justice". doi:10.13169/intljofdissocjus.3.1.0024. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  31. ↑ "Livin' in the future: Conceptualising the future of UK disability activism through utopian, retrotopian and heterotopian configurations. Capital and Class". doi:10.1177/03098168221137200. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  32. ↑ "Disabled youth participation within activism and social movement bases: An empirical investigation of the UK Disabled People's Movement". doi:10.1177/00113921221100579. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  33. ↑ "Reporting from the Margins: Disabled Academics Reflections on Higher Education". doi:10.16993/sjdr.670. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  34. ↑ UK Social Model of Disability and the Quest for Emancipation.
  35. ↑ "Social movements – opportunity to disrupt our sense of normality".
  36. ↑ "The need to radically change disability assessments".
  37. ↑ "Disability campaigner made an MBE".
  38. ↑ "Independent review of equality 2025" (PDF).
  39. ↑ "EHRC proposals on the right to independent living".
  40. ↑ "UNESCO inclusive policy lab".
  41. ↑ "Independent living research network".
  42. ↑ "Fairness and social Justice advisory Board".
  43. ↑ "UK Census 2021 disability data".
  44. ↑ "Access all podcast".
  45. ↑ "Why UK only has 16 hotels with full disabled access".
  46. ↑ "Nicola Sturgeon considers backing assisted suicide".
  47. ↑ "Assisted dying legislation introduced Holyrood".
  48. ↑ "Plans to legalise assisted dying in Scotland take step forward".
  49. ↑ "Twitter has been important for disability activism – that's being lost under Elon Musk".
  50. ↑ "Human rights conversation".
  51. ↑ "Digital disability film and TV reviews".
  52. ↑ "Disability and football".
  53. ↑ "AI and technology rooted in ableism and social inequalities".
  54. ↑ "Social model of disability".
  55. ↑ "Surviving now, planning for tomorrow".
  56. ↑ "Independent living – Miro Griffiths".
  57. ↑ "About the independent living Institute".
  58. ↑ "Essay series".
  59. ↑ "Miro Griffiths".
  60. ↑ "Assisted dying Bill".
  61. ↑ "Signatures – Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities".
  62. ↑ "The List". Disability News Service. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
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