Suchergebnisse

After reviewing changes in the notion of disability from a physiological to a social problem, a new conceptualization is offered that views disability as a product of the political economy, ie, a "socially created category derived from labor relations" or a "product of the exploitative economic structure of capitalist society.that creates (& then oppresses) the 'disabled' body as one of the conditions that allow the capitalist class to accumulate wealth." It is argued that the primary oppression of disabled persons lies in their exclusion from participation in wage labor, a form of exclusion then extended to other activities of social & economic life. Subsequent impoverishment of the disabled who must survive on disability benefits further separates them from the capitalist class. In addition, the threat of becoming disabled is used as a form of social control to frighten able-bodied workers into continued servitude to the capitalist workforce. The rise of movements & organizations dedicated to the rights of the disabled is discussed & their transformative political potential is evaluated. The unfilled promises of legislation such as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act are reviewed. K. Hyatt Stewart

Explores the disproportionate number of disabled persons incarcerated in US prisons/jails. Roughly 55% of incarcerated youths have learning disabilities, nearly 25% of all prison inmates suffer from diagnosable "serious mental disorders," & many imprisoned juveniles suffer from multiple disabilities resulting from extreme physical/sexual abuse during childhood. Examination of the historic segregation of disabled persons from American society from a materialist perspective illustrates the deleterious economic/social impact on the disabled of the evolution of work under capitalism. The inability of the Americans with Disabilities Act to reduce the high unemployment rate of disabled people stems from the failure to acknowledge that capitalism produces disablement & economic discrimination, while simultaneously commodifying disabled people for commercial gain. The deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill as a cost-cutting strategy led to a dramatic increase in homelessness & imprisonment of the mentally ill. The discrimination & abuse faced by disabled people behind bars is explored, along with the evolution of the prison industrial complex as a "multi-billion-dollar capitalist juggernaut," & the need for drastic social & economic restructuring of the organization of work. J. Lindroth