Hi Vivek et al,
This is an interesting concept by Lennard Davis that has not really
taken flight. Davis is arguing that the postmodern and deconstruction
theory continues to compound disability and identity politics. Davis
is attempting to develop a new theory – dismodernism – that calls a
refocus and relocalization of identity through a “new” ethics of the
body. According to Davis, there are three areas on the dismodernist
view of the body: care of the body, care for the body, and care about
the body. According to Davis, the first two are counterproductive to
Disability Studies and we should be focusing on "care about the body"
as a pathway to liberation.
Davis feels that the postmodern perspective on disability continues to
be framed on the humanistic model and a “ruse to disguise the hegemony
of the normalcy” and where ”politics have been directed towards making
all identities equal a under a model of rights of the dominant often
white, male, ‘normal’ subject. In a dismodernist mode, the idea is
not a hypostatization of the normal (that is, dominant) subject, but
aims to create a new category based on the partial, incomplete subject
whose realization is not autonomy and independence, but dependency and
interdependence. “ (Davis, p. 30)
Other notable quotes on dismodernism according to Davis:
• The dismodernist subject sees that metanarratives are only ‘socially
created’ and accepts them as that, gaining help and relying on
legislation, law and technology. 30
• Dismodernism doesn’t require the abjection of wounds or docility or
describe the populace, or the identity groups within. Rather it
replaces the binary of docility and power with another – impairment
and normalcy. Impairment is the rule and normalcy is the fantasy. 31
• The dismodernist vision allows for a clearer, more concrete mode of
action – a clear notion of expanding the projected class to the entire
population; a commitment to removing barriers and creating access for
all. This includes removing the veil of ideology from the concept of
the normal and denying the locality of identity. 31
I hope this helps rather than makes it more confusing.
Cheers,
Tommy
On Tue, Jan 8, 2013 at 12:48 PM, vivek singh <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Could anyone explain me what 'Dismodernism' mean in terms of disability
> according to Lennard J Davis.
>
> Thanks
> --
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