Transcript Capitalism and DP[1]

Capitalism and the social
oppression of people with
impairments
Bob Williams-Findlay
Disability Equality &
Human Rights Trainer
The Birth of the
Disabled People’s Movement
• The late 1960s saw May ’68, the rise of both the
Civil Rights and Women’s Movements
• The Independent Living Movement grew out of
the US Disability Rights Movement, which began
in the early 1970s. The IL Movement works at
replacing the special education and
rehabilitation experts’ concepts of integration,
normalization and rehabilitation with a new
paradigm developed by disabled people
themselves.
The Birth of the
Disabled People’s Movement
• The Union of the Physically Impaired
Against Segregation was founded in 1972
and disbanded in 1990. It nevertheless lay
the basis for the UK Movement
• It was started by Paul Hunt when he wrote
a letter to the Guardian inviting disabled
people to join with him to form a group to
tackle disability.
The Birth of the
Disabled People’s Movement
• UPIAS became the first disability liberation
group in the UK, and one of the first in the world,
and certainly the most advanced in the world.
• What it had to offer disabled people was an
analysis of disability - fairly basic, but an
analysis of disability in which they presented a
new concept. They presented disability as a
social relationship in which disabled people were
oppressed. And in doing this they were
overturning the concept of disability as basically
a biologically determined condition.
Over the years many disabled people have
campaigned for “justice”, “equal rights” and
“an end to discrimination”.
What is meant by ‘Disability’?
• The 1970s saw some disabled people
question why they were placed in ‘special
places’ and viewed as ‘burdens on society’
• They argued that the way people viewed
‘disability’ had led to the exclusion and
segregation of those with significant
impairments.
What is meant by ‘Disability’?
• Disabled activists and academics began to
develop a historical materialist analysis of
people with impairments’ social
relationships within given societies.
• Thus the meanings given to ‘disability’ are
“historically specific”.
Historical Background
• Once upon a time ‘disability’ was seen as an
‘act of God’ – a punishment for the parents or
the person’s ‘sin’ in this or a former life.
• Just prior to the Industrial Revolution the
focus shifted from spiritual to physical wellbeing and this finally resulted in the
development of a medical classification
system under capitalism.
Historical Background
• By the middle of the nineteenth century British
society had felt the impact of the Industrial
Revolution. The harsh realities it produced
created economic and social upheavals which
brought about, in turn, moral panics around the
fear of illness, disease and depravity. Social
reformers sought to replace chaos with control contours around what was considered ‘normal’
were drawn and those groups thought to be
polluting society - outside ‘normality’ - were
withdrawn from the public gaze.
Historical Background
• The increased usage of institutionalisation,
the birth of the eugenics movement and
the proliferation of charities contributed
towards ‘cleansing’ society of its mad and
hapless cripples. Non-conformity was
unacceptable and those people deemed
incapable of keeping standards associated
with ‘normal activities’ - productive and
reproductive - had to be ‘taken care of’ in
more senses than one.
Historical Background
• The First World War cemented the view
that ‘disability’ was a “personal tragedy” –
based on the notion that the loss of bodily
function also means a break with ‘ablebodied normality’
• Hence, the less a person functions like a
‘normal person’, the more disabled they
were ‘adjudged’ to be
Models of Disability
• Individual model (sometimes called ‘the
Medical Model’) – tends to view “disability”
as either a personal tragedy or a failure to
be “normal”
• Social model – sees ‘disability’ as the
negative outcome resulting from systems,
structures and attitudes within society (i.e.
disabling barriers)
Models of Disability
• Individual Model of Disability legitimises how
capitalist society socially constructs and
creates disability.
• Social construction around dominant
ideologies such as individualism and
normality
• Social creation – the systematic failure to
address disabling barriers and institutional
discrimination e.g. exploitative social
relations in the labour market
Individual Model of Disability
“Can’t…”
walk, talk, see, hear, work,
climb stairs, read written info,
speak, etc.
The Disabled
Person
Is a burden
needs care, help,
services; takes and
doesn’t give…
Is passive
or dependant
“confined” to a
wheelchair,
“housebound”, etc.
Is sick or ill
waiting for a cure,
confusion between
illness and disability
Object of pity
or sorrow
recipient of charity, has “special” needs which
don’t get met by mainstream services or funding,
etc.
Disability as Tragedy
• If a wheelchair user is unable to access a
building because it has steps – the reason
is their inability to walk
• If a Deaf person is unable to follow a
conversation – the reason is their inability
to hear
• If a person with learning difficulties gets
lost – the reason is their lack of ability to
understand directions
Disability as Tragedy
• The model sees disability as being the
degree to which a person fails to conform
to the expected and accepted ‘norms’
linked to daily functional activities
• Disability is located ‘within’ the individual
and therefore ‘blames’ their impairment for
any social disadvantage they encounter
Disability as Tragedy
• Maintains that ‘disability’ should be cured
through medicine and treatment. But what
are the implications of this approach if the
person’s situation cannot be altered this
way?
• Leads to actions to “end the ‘suffering’” or
placing disabled people into ‘special’
provisions due to their ‘special’ needs
Disability as Tragedy
• Individual model of disability maintains the
view is that disabled people need to fit into
society. It justifies a cycle of exclusion and
dependency due to common attitudes and
prejudices as well as inappropriate
practices.
Consequences
•
Disabled people have faced segregation,
isolation, invisibility & discrimination
•
Location of the ‘problem’ within the
individual – “a person with a disability”
•
Created institutional discrimination
Definitions
• The ICIDH was replaced in 2001 by the
International Classification on Functioning,
Disability and Health (ICF) which, attempts
to look at the impact of the environment,
both physical and attitudinal, in disabling
people living with impairments.
Social Model Definitions of
Disability
• Impairment: an injury, illness or inherited
condition that causes or likely to cause a
loss or difference in the way the body and
mind works.
• Disability: the loss or limitation of
opportunities to take part in the general life
of the community on an equal level with
others due to physical and social barriers.
The Social Model of Disability
• Within this model disability is seen as a socially
created issue. An individual with an impairment
will not be disabled by society, if their social
environment acknowledges, removes or reduces
the disabling barriers they encounter. This
includes accepting their impairment and the
social consequences of living with an
impairment.
Social Model
• The social model offers an alternative
understanding of disability
• Disability is viewed as the outcome of
‘negative interactions’ that takes place
between the impaired individual and their
social environment – each side, (the
impairment / environment) has an
influence on the ‘interactions’
Social Model
• We refer to ‘negative interactions’ as being
the cause of disabling barriers at the micro
level of society.
• Disabling barriers can be:
– negative attitudes towards disabled people
– policies, practices and customs
– the natural or built environment
Social Model of Disability
Inaccessible physical
environments
Information not in
accessible formats
including buildings,
transport, poor design, etc.
e.g. plain language,
Braille, tape, large print,
disk, accessible website,
etc.
Communication
barriers
The Disabling
World
e.g. few sign language
Interpreters, no induction
(hearing) loops or
alternatives to
telephones,
assuming everyone
communicates in the
same way
Prejudice
e.g. attitudes,
stereotyping,
assumptions, etc.
Discrimination
e.g. inflexible or
unfair systems in
organisations
Social Model
• If a wheelchair user is unable to access a
building because it has steps – the reason is the
failure to provide a ramp or lift
• If a Deaf person is unable to follow a
conversation – the reason is the nonconsideration of their communication needs
• If a person with learning difficulties gets lost –
the reason is the fact the directions they were
given clearly didn’t meet their needs
The Politics of Disability
• The social model sees disability as being
imposed on top of people who have
impairments. Disability is viewed as the
oppressive social relationships people with
impairments experience. People with
impairments are disabled by the
structures, attitudes and culture found in
specific societies.
The Politics of Disability
Therefore:
“For me disabled people are defined in terms
of three criteria;
(i) they have an impairment;
(ii) they experience oppression as a
consequence; and
(iii) they identify themselves as a disabled
person.”
The Politics of Disability
• Using the generic term does not mean that I do
not recognise differences in experience within
the group but that in exploring this we should
start from the ways oppression differentially
impacts on different groups of people rather than
with differences in experience among individuals
with different impairments.
Mike Oliver from Capitalism, disability and ideology: A materialist critique
of the Normalization principle (1999)
Disability Terminology
The term “people with disabilities” generally
refers to people with impairments who are
viewed as having the “inability to perform
‘normal’ tasks” (sic). It is an oppressive social
construct.
Disabled people are seen as people with
characteristics or impairments that lead to them
being disabled by the way society is organised. It
is political identity for the Disabled People’s
Movement.
The Politics of Disability
Through the British Council of Disabled People
(BCODP) and the Independent Living
Movement the self-organisation of disabled people
gathered pace during the 1980s.
It was the same year as a “Rights Not Charity”
march took place. Private Members’ Bills
seeking legislation came and went. Research
commissioned by BCODP on the nature of
discrimination in Britain and acted as a turning point.
The Politics of Disability
Both MPs and the public began to take more
notice and in 1992 a new umbrella
organisation, Rights Now was established to
promote a Civil Rights bill. The outrage at
the first defeat of this bill, forced the
Government to produce its own legislation
which became the Disability Discrimination
Act 1995.
The Politics of Disability
The passing of the DDA did lead to a
surge in awareness about “disability
discrimination” among those who came
to know about the Act’s existence,
however, the nature of the Act itself
made it unlikely to impact on the
structures of society where institutional
discrimination takes place.
The Politics of Disability
Demos reported:
“....despite all the apparent progress that has
been made since the original BCODP report
was launched, the underlying reality is that
disabled people continue to face the same
barriers that they have always faced and that
‘disablism remains rife throughout Britain’.”
The Politics of Disability
The Labour Party under Smith were
listening to disabled people and agreed
to bring in new social model based
legislation when elected. This changed
under Blair:
• Token changes – tinkered with DDA
• Ignored disabled people’s groups
• Launched witch hunt against disabled
people on benefits via Purnell and Freud
The Politics of Disability
• I would argue New Labour helped to
demobilize the Disabled People’s
Movement – a social movement.
• The Movement became fractured, depoliticized and isolated – not too unlike
the Left!
The Politics of Disability
Many of the policies adopted by the
CONDEM Government originate with New
Labour = Freud, an ex-merchant banker,
swapping sides to become a Lord and
lead the attack. The attack is simply
starker and more hard hitting than
Labour planned. It is about restructuring
the State not the myth of “UK Debt”.
The Cuts and Disabled People
• Using Tory press to stigmatise disabled
people in a style similar to the Nazis
• Forcing disabled people who are also ill to
enter a labour market that discriminates
against them – suicides have already
occurred.
• The cuts in “social care” and the
restructuring of NHS will leave many ‘at
risk’.
The Cuts and Disabled People
• The welfare reform will remove a
quarter of disabled claimants out of
benefits altogether and make it harder
to claim.
• Will individualise and medicalise the
assessment process – ESA, PIP, etc
• Housing Benefit and ILF changes will
lead to institutional rather than
independent living
The Cuts and Disabled People
• CONDEM cuts attack disabled people’s
human rights and violate UN
Convention on Rights of Disabled
Persons
• Disabled People Against Cuts is the
radical voice of disabled people from
within the old Disabled People’s
Movement
Talking about the Left
• The Left’s understanding of the politics of
disability is extremely poor
• Ernest Mandel one of the few non-disabled
Marxists to even engage with the issue
• Many of the Left’s theories, policies and
practices exclude disabled people and are
therefore, albeit unintentionally, colluding in
the social oppression of disabled people
• Disabled people are part of the anticapitalist struggle –
Nothing About Us, Without Us!