{"id":1757,"date":"2026-06-17T11:39:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/?p=1757"},"modified":"2026-06-17T11:39:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T10:39:42","slug":"constructing-vulnerability-symposium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/crcc\/uncategorised\/constructing-vulnerability-symposium\/","title":{"rendered":"Constructing Vulnerability Symposium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The CRCC, alongside the Discourse and Rhetoric Group (DARG), hosted the symposium: \u2018Constructing Vulnerability\u2019 on Thursday 21st May at Loughborough University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event brought scholars from Loughborough University together with distinguished invited speakers from Heriot-Watt University, University of Michigan Medical School and the University of the West of England, to interrogate the communicative construction of vulnerability and its implications. Presentations drew on diverse empirical backgrounds\u2014including digital environments, healthcare delivery, justice systems, and educational institutions\u2013\u2013and explored how vulnerability is produced, negotiated, and managed through specific communicative practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defining vulnerability as an interactional concern<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Vulnerability denotes exposure to potential harm\u2014a condition that, while applicable across a range of domains, assumes particular ethical and political significance in relation to human subjects. Contemporary discourse frequently designates certain populations as “vulnerable” through political, medical, or regulatory frameworks. Yet vulnerability should not be understood as an inherent or essentialist attribute. Rather, it emerges as a contingent phenomenon, constituted and mediated through social structures, institutional arrangements, political economies, and discursive regimes. Vulnerability, in short, is communicatively constructed across multiple scales and contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defining persons as vulnerable<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The first panel focused on how people are defined, or self-define, as vulnerable. Marc Alexander <\/a><\/strong>(Heriot-Watt University), discussed how callers and call-takers establish vulnerability as the basis for support through self description and diagnostic categories during calls to a UK housing helpline. Next, Itoitz Rodrigo-Jusue<\/a><\/strong> (Loughborough University) introduced the ways in which individuals are constructed as vulnerable to radicalisation within UK media and political counter-radicalisation discourse. Finally, Kirsty Horsey<\/a><\/strong> (Loughborough University) shared how, in the context of surrogacy, legal definitions of vulnerability are primarily framed as a concern for surrogates, and potential surrogates, whilst neglecting the vulnerability of potential parents. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vulnerability in institutional settings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After a short break, the focus shifted to how vulnerability is constructed in institutional settings. First, Emma Richardson<\/a> <\/strong>(Loughborough University) and Laura Jenkins<\/a><\/strong> (Loughborough University) discussed how vulnerability is interactionally produced in police investigative interviews to construct and negotiate the reliability of witness and victim\u2019s statements. Next, Kathryn Jordin<\/a><\/strong> (Loughborough University) introduced how a child\u2019s emotional vulnerability is constructed and negotiated in adult caregiver responses to their upset in UK preschool settings. Finally, Francesca Williamson<\/a> <\/strong>(University of Michigan Medical School) shared how vulnerability becomes a specific concern for Black families during discussions about risk and pain management in paediatric surgical consultations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflections on vulnerability and practice<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The final panel brought together three presentations that explored vulnerability as a reflexive practice. First, Jo Sims<\/strong> (Loughborough University), Marco Pino <\/a><\/strong>(Loughborough University) and Jessica Robles<\/a><\/strong> (Loughborough University) discussed how, for patients with life-limiting illnesses, vulnerability is constructed in conversations about their condition and care with palliative care professionals. Next, Paula Saukko <\/a><\/strong>(Loughborough University) introduced how those living with eating disorders negotiate vulnerability in online spaces to find support and share their experiences. Finally Penny Litchfield <\/strong>(University of the West of England) and Cristian Tileag\u01ce <\/a><\/strong>(Loughborough University) shared their experiences of navigating their own vulnerability as a researcher during a focused ethnographic project, highlighting that when investigating difficult and traumatic events and experiences, our own vulnerability as researchers is also a valid concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Symposium closing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The symposium closed with the organiser, Jessica Robles<\/strong>, thanking presenters for bringing such important discussions about vulnerability for wider consideration, and outlined the hope that through such valuable interdisciplinary dialogue, we can advance theoretical understanding and critical reflection on how communication shapes the politics and experience of vulnerability in contemporary society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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