New Books in Critical Theory J. Logan Smilges, "Crip Negativity" (U of Minnesota Press, 2023)
Jan 10, 2026
J. Logan Smilges, a queer, trans, disabled scholar at UBC, dives into the complexities of disability and activism through their work, Crip Negativity. They discuss how therapy and the pandemic sparked their exploration of 'bad crip feelings' and critique narrow definitions of access. Smilges advocates for envisioning expansive and unreasonable accommodations, emphasizing the collective power of refusal and care. They also weave in insights from queer, mad, and Black studies, proposing that grappling with negativity can foster deeper connections and critique of ableism.
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Therapy Sparked The Project
- J. Logan Smilges began developing crip negativity while in graduate school during affirmative therapy that surfaced long-ignored bad feelings.
- The pandemic deepened those feelings and created the conditions to write the book as a community-building project.
Three-Part Definition Of Crip Negativity
- Crip negativity means bad crip feelings being felt cripply, combining bad feelings with stigma about feeling.
- Smilges separates ableism from disability and urges locating access within wider power matrices like race and class.
Negativity Needs Intersectional Reframing
- Smilges draws from queer, mad, and Black studies to expand negativity beyond the antisocial thesis.
- He argues negativity varies by social position and that refusal carries uneven, sometimes fatal, consequences.
