Disability as Abject: Kristeva, Disability, and Resistance

Hypatia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 762-778
Author(s):  
Josh Dohmen
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Julia Kristeva ◽  
Social Models ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
Lacanian Theory

In this essay, I develop an account of disability exclusion that, though inspired by Julia Kristeva, diverges from her account in several important ways. I first offer a brief interpretation of Kristeva's essays “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and … Vulnerability” and “A Tragedy and a Dream: Disability Revisited” and, using this interpretation, I assess certain criticisms of Kristeva's position made by Jan Grue in his “Rhetorics of Difference: Julia Kristeva and Disability.” I then argue that Kristeva's concept of abjection, especially as developed by Sara Ahmed and Tina Chanter, offers important insights into disability oppression; Ahmed's and Chanter's contributions improve upon Kristeva's account. Understanding disability as abject helps to explain both resistances to interacting with disabled others and ways to resist disability oppression. Finally, I argue that understanding disability as abject is preferable to recent deployments of Lacanian theory in disability studies and that this account is compatible with social models of disability.

scholarly journals Historical Epistemology as Disability Studies Methodology: From the Models Framework to Foucault’s Archaeology of Cure

2015 ◽  
pp. 108-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimi Hamraie
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Biomedical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Epistemology ◽  
Critical Disability Studies ◽  
Medical Authority ◽  
Disability History ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Construction Of Disability

In this article, I argue for historical epistemology as a methodology for critical disability studies (DS) by examining Foucault’s archaeology of cure in History of Madness. Although the moral, medical, and social models of disability frame disability history as an advancement upon moral and medical authority and a replacement of it by sociopolitical knowledge, I argue that the more comprehensive frame in which these models circulate—the “models framework”—requires the more nuanced approach that historical epistemology offers. In particular, the models framework requires greater use of epistemology as an analytical tool for understanding the historical construction of disability. Thus, I turn to Foucault’s History of Madness in order to both excavate one particular archaeological strand in the text—the archaeology of cure—and to demonstrate how this narrative disrupts some of the key assumptions of the models framework, challenging DS to consider the epistemological force of non-medical fields of knowledge for framing disability and procedures for its cure and elimination. I conclude by arguing that DS must develop historical epistemological methodologies that are sensitive to the complex overlays of moral, medical, and social knowledge, as well as attend to the social construction of scientific and biomedical knowledge itself.

Habilitative Health and Disability

2018 ◽  
pp. 62-81
Author(s):  
Lawrence C. Becker
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Behavioral Functioning ◽  
Social Health ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Health It ◽  
Social Models ◽  
Individual Health ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
Complete Health

This chapter introduces and defines the concept of habilitative health as the ability to succeed at three types of tasks necessary for human survival and thriving: self-habilitation, habilitation of others, and habilitation of the physical and social environment in which one lives. Habilitative health is an aspect of the complete health scale, ranging from worst to best health in terms of physiological, intellectual, psychological, and behavioral functioning. The argument here is that the nature and gravity of disabilities generally can best be understood in terms of a lack of habilitative health in specified ranges of physical and social environments. This eliminates many differences between the medical and social models of disability and unifies discussions of individual health with discussions of public or social health. It also recasts the discussion of human rights to healthcare as a discussion of human duties of care to self, others, and the habitable world.

Disability Studies in Education and Inclusive Education

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Baglieri ◽  
Jessica Bacon
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Disability Studies ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
Shape Learning ◽  
Disability Studies In Education ◽  
Scholarly Inquiry

Disability studies (DS) is a transdisciplinary field of scholarly inquiry whose members seek to understand disability and disablement as cultural phenomena. Scholars who adopt disability studies in education (DSE) perspectives aim to understand how disability is conceptually configured in the research and practice that shape learning, education, and schooling. The DSE field strives to discern and theorize medical and social models of disability in order to promote critical examination of the cultural conditions in which educational practices are performed. The commitments and understandings that arise within DSE lead proponents to conceptualize inclusive education reform as a radical project, and call for the development of policy, teaching, and teacher education practices that acknowledge and resist ableism.

scholarly journals Models of Disability as Models of First Contact

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 676
Author(s):  
Sheri Wells-Jensen ◽  
Alyssa Zuber
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
Sphere Of Influence ◽  
First Contact ◽  
New Situation

Because humanity is a young technological species, any extraterrestrials we meet will inevitably be more advanced than we are. The realization that we are no longer dominant in our sphere of influence will inevitably cause spiritual cultural and even economic trauma as we come to terms with the new reality. The question we should endeavor to answer before this happens is: what direction will this trauma take and how can we prepare in advance to minimize harm as we adjust to this? Disability studies offer several models of how one advantaged group understands and interacts with a less advantaged group. These include the medical, social, moral/religious, economic, charity, and limits models, and each lays out a unique way of understanding situations where one group has a strong perceived or real advantage over another. Exploring these models can give us a sense of the possible variation that might occur upon first contact. Such an exploration is relevant both to how ET might perceive us and how we might begin to conceptualize ourselves in that new situation. As with most seemingly theoretical forays into astrobiology, this work has implications for the present as it interrogates how disabled and abled humans interact and negotiate power and how we understand one another.

The Pain of Endo Existence: Toward a Feminist Disability Studies Reading of Endometriosis

Hypatia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 554-571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara E. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Social Constructionism ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Medical Treatments ◽  
Medical Models ◽  
Feminist Disability Studies ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
Provide Pain Relief ◽  
The Common ◽  
Constructionist Approach

Disability scholars have critiqued medical models that pathologize disability as an individual flaw that needs treatment, rehabilitation, and cure, favoring instead a social‐constructionist approach that likens disability to other identity categories such as gender, race, class, and sexuality. However, the emphasis on social constructionism has left chronic illness and pain largely untheorized. This article argues that feminist disability studies (FDS) must attend to the common, chronic gynecological condition endometriosis (endo) when theorizing pain. Endo is particularly important for FDS analysis because the highly feminized and sexualized nature of endo pain is a major source of disability. Because medical treatments of endo enhance fertility rather than provide pain relief, those with endo must not only have access to medical services to manage their pain, but also demand better medical management of their pain as well as disability accommodations for their pain. Thus, I propose a pain‐centric model of disability that politicizes pain through social‐constructionist and medical models of disability by attending to the lived experiences of pain.

scholarly journals Re-Visiting Site Visits through the Lens of Disability Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Gravett
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Universal Design ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Field Trips ◽  
Learning Activity ◽  
Site Visit ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
Design For Learning ◽  
A Site

The site visit (also called “field trips,” “excursions,” even “field research”) is a well-known learning activity in religious studies classrooms. In this article, I will analyze site visits to reveal how ableism is embedded even in educational practices common to religion courses. First, I will provide a brief overview of disability studies, various models of disability, and the pervasive ableism that structures higher education. Next, I will describe the typical conceptions and components of a site visit, as illustrated by real religion syllabi, with consideration of the barriers that it may present for students who ‘deviate’ from the ‘norm.’ I will then introduce some principles of Universal Design and Universal Design for Learning, which may give readers ideas and tools for revising and expanding all of their assignments, including site visits. Finally, I will conclude with some (not definitive, admittedly, but specific) ideas for making site visits more inclusive.

scholarly journals Loneliness as one of the social and psychological problems of children with disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 50-61
Author(s):  
Fatih Ashan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Psychological Problems ◽  
Social Models ◽  
Psychological Conditions ◽  
Complex Problems ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
The Social

Disability is one of the most complex problems in the article, we explored the socio-psychological nature of disability. We analyzed medical and social models of disability. We talked about the psychological conditions that disability brings with it, especially loneliness. The WHO estimates that about 10 percent of the world's population is disabled. From this point of view, the study of this topic from different aspects is always relevant.

Influence of Medical and Social Perspectives of Disability on Models of Inclusive Education in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Connor ◽  
Louis Olander
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Student Success ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Models ◽  
Social Perspectives ◽  
Models Of Disability ◽  
Nature Of Teaching

Ideological disputes about what human differences constitute disabilities undergird two very distinct positions that are known as medical and social models of disability. The positions significantly impact how inclusive education is envisioned and enacted, with proponents of each model holding fast to what they believe is “best” for students. Related areas of significant dissension among the two viewpoints include: (a) the concept of disability and “appropriate” placement of students deemed disabled, (b) the purpose of schools, (c) the nature of teaching and learning, (d) a teacher’s roles, (e) the notion of student success and failure, and (f) perceptions of social justice and disability. These interconnected and sometimes overlapping areas convey how medical or social models of inclusive education can vary dramatically, depending upon an educator’s general ideological disposition toward disability or difference.

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