News
Activist-scholar A.J. Withers uses research to advocate for social change
As the Ruth Wynn Woodward (RWW) Junior Chair (2022-2025) of 91ĹÝܽ’s (SFU) Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (GSWS), A.J. Withers investigated social justice issues using a creative blend of activism and scholarship during their term.
Approaching academia through their perspective as a community organizer, Withers believes in making their research both comprehensible and collaborative. “I am a disabled person and I had brief experiences of homelessness,” says Withers. “I became a social justice activist out of those experiences. I want my academic work to benefit the communities of which I am a part.”
This viewpoint guided Withers’ approach to the revised and expanded edition of their book, Disability Politics and Theory, which was released by Fernwood Publishing in 2024. In 2025, Fernwood produced an innovative audiobook version, bringing Withers’ approachable examination of the history of disability to a new audience.
I want my academic work to benefit the communities of which I am a part.
Alongside authoring traditional academic publications and books, Withers also creates art to share their research. Withers’ short-animated film, , tells a metaphorical story — based on historical events — to spark conversations about how capitalism disenfranchises disabled people and other marginalized groups in society.
As RWW Jr. Chair, Withers created a forum to explore these and other ideas. Notably, they organized book launches with authors Gary Kinsman (The Regulation of Desire) and Dean Spade (Love in a F*cked-Up World), and moderated a conversation on the housing crisis, with Liat Ben-Moshe, Aero Marion, and Ryan Sudds.
As Withers concludes their term as RWW Jr Chair, we asked them to reflect on their key contributions and memorable experiences during their time at SFU.
How would you describe your current research?
I am undertaking two major projects that do not seem related on the surface, but they are very related.
One is a project supported by a SSHRC Partnership Engagement Grant, and it is with Our Homes Can’t Wait, a group in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). We are looking at how DTES housing — and the lack of it— works to contain and control people through “jail-like” conditions. This project connects to my long-term work on disability, homelessness, and criminalization. The reports from this project are available at .
The other project I have been working on is mapping the parental rights movement in Canada. What these group call “parental rights” is often based on misinformation and anti-trans organizing, often directed at SOGI (Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity) inclusive education and trans kids. Along with showing how parental rights movement groups network together, the map also shows their connections with far-right hate groups, conspiracy theorists, and other extremists.
Both projects are about how marginalized people are viewed as controllable. Both relate to fundamental questions of justice: who really gets to be a human and what kind of human do they get to be?
What are some of the highlights of your time as RWW Junior chair?
The biggest highlight has been the opportunity to dedicate time to working with folks in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Getting to know some of those folks well has been lovely.
Teaching SFU students has been another highlight. Over the past three years, I have taught several GSWS undergraduate and graduate courses related to my work: Critical Disability Studies; The Sexual and Gendered Relations of Property; and Research and Resistance – Social Policy, Social Movements, and Social Justice. My students often surprised me with their thoughts on these topics.
Many activist-scholars study movements. However, what movements need is to understand how power works.
How does your community organizing work crossover with your research?
Many activist-scholars study movements. However, what movements need is to understand how power works. I use a methodology called political activist ethnography, which does just that: it is a tool for understanding how groups can be more effective in working to make change.
My research comes from what folks in the community identify as important. For example, the problems with the homeless counts, which I consistently heard about when I was working in Toronto and continued to hear about in Vancouver. I wrote a paper examining how trans people are made invisible and undercounted, how this has contributed to the lack of shelter access and other services within the trans community.
Can you tell us more about your collaborators?
Nathan Crompton — my co-investigator on our research project in the DTES — is an organizer with Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) and has a deep knowledge of the community and its history. Hamish Ballantyne is someone I have worked with as an organizer and who helped write reports on carceral space. Tintin Yang has also made many important contributions as a research assistant on the project.
There are so many people from Our Homes Can’t Wait that have put in their energy into making the project better, including advising and reviewing the reports. I always work to write in an understandable way, so their feedback is important to achieve this goal. They also contribute important theoretical observations and factual information that is key to the final project.
What is next for you?
I am planning to make two podcasts coming out of my research into the parental rights movement. I listened to and watched many hours of podcasts and videos by far-right hate groups, extremists, and conspiracy theorists to understand the propaganda and discourse that is perpetuated by the parental rights movement. I am planning to work with others that can breakdown the types of tactics used in these podcasts and videos, and we will contest the misinformation they spread. I will put updates about the podcasts and my other work on my website, , as they develop.
The Ruth Wynn Woodward (RWW) Chair enables us to make visiting appointments in innovative areas of social importance.