The European Union from the threshold: the effects of motor disability on field research in the European institutions in Brussels

What are the effects of motor disability on field research on European institutions and the data collected? The inaccessibility of the city of Brussels places the disabled researcher in a position of liminality, reducing the scope for observation. The internalization of ableist norms sustains liminality, which can be strategically mobilized. “Hypermobility” valued in Europeanist literature studying practices leads to leaving Brussels. The norm of autonomy in academia influences disclosure of disability to the European actors and trust maintained with them. This article calls for greater reflexivity to the body in Europeanist fieldworks.