Interviewing the School of Law's Professor Anna Lawson for the UN World Day of Social Justice
In honour of the UN World Day of Social Justice, we are delighted to share an interview with Professor Anna Lawson.
A leading expert in disability rights and human rights law, Professor Lawson has made significant contributions to the field through her research. In this interview, she explores disability law, human rights, guide dogs and horse-riding.
Can you describe your role in 100 words?
I am a Professor in the School of Law, working on issues of disability equality law and human rights. I am a member of the Law School’s Centre for Law and Social Justice and the Faculty of Social Science’s multidisciplinary Centre for Disability Studies (of which I was a director from 2014 to 2023). Among other things, I am currently working on a six-year research project on Inclusive Public Space, funded by the European Research Council and involving close collaboration with colleagues in India, Kenya, the Netherlands and the United States. Besides research, teaching and supervision brings me huge joy – often!
What really impresses you about Leeds?
The reason I first came to Leeds in 1984 continues to impress me and so has to be at the top of my list. It’s the practical commitment to inclusion which I have found - both within the University and more broadly across the city.
It was the University’s Transcription Centre for Blind People that drew me to Leeds – and which revolutionised my learning experience by making it possible for me, as a blind student, to enjoy the riches of the University library by accessing printed material.
This impressive service continues to exist and now supports me as a member of staff. Beyond the University, Leeds has been a pioneer in innovative inclusion for as long as I have been here. Examples range from the early days of audio-description (in the Yorkshire Playhouse and Grand Theatre) to the City Council’s early agreement not to install the ‘shared space’ street design, so problematic for many disabled people.
But there are many, many more things that impress me about Leeds – not least the warmth and cultural diversity of its people and the splendour of its surrounding countryside – second only to that of Wales!
What question have you most frequently been asked in your role?
The question I am asked most often, in any face-to-face encounter – work or other – is what my guide-dog is called and how old he or she is.
These are questions I never tire of because my dogs have all been wonderful personalities with whom it’s the greatest of privileges to be able to share experiences and lifetimes. After this, the questions I’m most commonly asked are about how the law can be put to work to address social injustice – generally experienced by a particular disabled person or disabled people more generally. These are fascinating and often troubling questions. Law, particularly in the equality context, articulates entitlements which can be extremely challenging to access or enforce. And law, too, can of course be part of the problem.
Is there something, or someone, that has inspired you in your career?
Yes – many people – but perhaps most of all Professor Jacobus tenBroek. He died shortly before I was born – and very humbling given all he managed to get done, at roughly the same age I find myself now. Like me, he was blind – and, like I aspire to be, he was an impressive scholar activist. As a scholar, he wrote articles which are still influential today – including his 1966 piece on the impact of Tort Law on the extent to which disabled people had a ‘right to live in the world’. As an activist, he founded and presided over the American National Federation of the Blind – which continues to play a powerful role today in shaping the law, policy and practice necessary for full and meaningful inclusion and equality. His energy, intellect and vision will never cease to amaze and inspire me – and many others too.
What do you wish you’d known at the start of your career that you know now?
I wish I’d known that technology would make the difference it has. At the beginning of my career, I accessed printed material by audio-recordings. Although Leeds had excellent facilities for this, it inevitably meant having to factor in time for recordings to be made. Handouts had to be typed by a secretary and everything was paper-based. Things changed very quickly – but it would have been liberating and reassuring for my younger self to have known that screen-readers and laptops would soon completely transform the way I read and write.
If you didn’t work in HE, what would have been your chosen career?
At different points, I contemplated becoming a social worker and a solicitor specialising in Discrimination and Human Rights Law. I’ve also dreamt of becoming a novelist – and still do from time to time.
What are your campus highlights?
St George’s Fields is a highlight for me – particularly in the Summer. The tranquillity it offers, so close to the hustle and bustle, is extraordinary. Another highlight, by contrast, is the liveliness of the Student Union and its surrounds – particularly when students are demonstrating their concern about injustice and their commitment to making the world a better place.
What’s still on your ‘to do’ list to visit?
Bardsey Island – off the Llyn Peninsular. I’ve tried to visit this several times, but the weather has always prevented it.
What do you do to relax away from University life?
I go for long walks with my guide dog. I particularly enjoy night-time walks in the quiet country lanes of North Yorkshire, when there is no traffic, but the scents of hedgerows are strong and the only sounds are owls, foxes and the odd passing oystercatcher. Cooking, whilst listening to a good book or radio programme, is another of my favourite pastimes – and swimming, but I don’t do it often enough.
Where’s your favourite travel destination and why?
The part of North Wales where I grew up. Besides the obvious draw of family and friends, it is a place which will always feel like home to me. From my earliest years, before I started losing my sight, I remember the beauty of its mountains, valleys and coastline. Legends, songs and personal histories swirl around it. There are footpaths I know so well that sight doesn’t matter, and particular places which always help put problems into perspective. For me, it is a place where fact and fiction, past, present and future, all blend together.
What’s your random claim to fame?
As a child and teenager, my main hobby was horse-riding. Although I had very little sight, I had a very sure-footed and independently minded pony who helped keep us both safe. We would go out for long rides over the local hills – sometimes alone but usually with my sister (who was also losing her sight), sometimes with our dare-devil father, and occasionally with a neighbour who was married to a novelist.
Inspired by our horse-riding adventures, his first novel – a fantasy book which aimed to raise awareness of the climate emergency – included a blind character and a positive portrayal of blindness.
What are you most looking forward to working on in the next 12 months?
I have two very exciting book projects I’m looking forward to working on – particularly as doing so involves working with cherished colleagues. The first is a monograph on law and mobility justice, drawing on the Inclusive Public Space research project. The second is a rather novel form of edited collection, drawing on another research project – the University of Leeds East Asia Disability Rights (U-Lead) project – which will include original and tailored contributions from dozens of scholars and activists.
What I’m looking forward to most, however, is working with people such as Catherine Casserly (a leading disability rights barrister) to create a space for reflection on disability equality law. 2025 will mark the 30th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act, and thus an ideal time to reflect on what is working, what is not working, and what changes are needed to make things work better.
Professor Lawson is a member of the Centre for Law and Social Justice.
