Hi, Richard --
I have a very mixed reaction to this post. I wave my fists in the air and
agree wholeheartedly with your points about the importance of the social
model as a tool of activism. Claims like this, however:
> It is abundantly clear that 'social model as theory' is synonymous with UK
> government policy - it means whatever the latest focus group says it
means.
... just bewilder me. I have no idea what the UK focus groups say, but I do
think I have an idea of what 'social model as theory' is supposed to mean.
It does not (to my mind) mean that discussing S.M.a.Theory means that one is
not interested in or actively using S.M.a.Tool. If you're suggesting that an
interest in theory is a betrayal of social activism, well, that's just an
insult.
And even though I agree with you more than not, you seem to be going out of
your way to predict, and then invite, and then incite angry responses. For
example:
> I willingly defer to the huge intellects represented on the list but
simply
> ask: 'do you stop to consider whether what you do benefits, harms or does
> absolutely nothing for disabled people?'
Huge intellects? Jeez, give me a break. You're starting to sound like my
old hometown buddies who say "OK, Mr. PhD, does your college education tell
you how to fix the carburetor on this Ford truck?"
Two points. First, the fact that _you don't see_ the benefits to disabled
people of theoretical examinations of the social model does not prove that
_there are no_ benefits.
Second, many of us on the list are academics by profession. That does not
mean that we are not activists as well. You seem to assume that all we do
is sit around and write pompous emails about obscure theory. That is not
true. Nothing I write on this list, or publish in a journal, will have any
effect on the fact that a women's shelter in my community is inaccessible to
women with disabilities. For all you know, I'm working on that problem
_besides_ discussing disability theory on Disability-Research. There are
things I might be doing about the Supreme Court challenges to the ADA as
well. And even the eugenic attacks.
Hell, for all you know, I might look like a navel-gazer ONLY from your own
limited perspective. On an academic list, I'm a mild-mannered writer about
academic issues. But in the real world I am Super-Activist!!!!
You think discussion of S.M.a.Theory is an attack, or at least an erosion of
S.M.a.Tool. I can't see why that should be true. And I can't see why the
academic, theoretical discussion of a tool of activism, conducted by
academics who are by and large activists, should be a bad thing.
Ron
--
Ron Amundson
University of Hawaii at Hilo
Hilo, HI 96720
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