Thanks for your response Larry. In relation to your second point, here’s what I wrote in 1991 in ‘Pride against Prejudice’:
"In terms of the physical world, none of us — whether disabled or not — is completely independent in the sense that we rely on nothing and nobody. However, the meaning of our dependence on others and on the physical world is determined by both its socio-economic and its ideological context. For example, we all depend on water coming out of the tap when we turn it on, while a disabled person such as Anna Mathison depends on someone to help her get dressed in the morning. However, when non-disabled people talk about water coming out of the tap, the issue is whether the water company is reliable; when they talk about Anna being dependent on an assistant, the issue for them is what they see as her helplessness created by her physical limitations.”
http://disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk/files/library/morris-Pride-and-Prejudice.pdf
I think I agree with you therefore.
Jenny
On 23 Sep 2014, at 17:51, Larry Arnold <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I have said it before, and I will say it again, independence is a fiction, in terms of a personal construct and also as a national construct as no nation is independent either, not even Bhutan and North Korea, isolates though they may be, they still are part of a global economy and ecology. My allotment is not even independent though it is self governing and a lot freer than Scotland would ever be under home rule.
>
> In terms of disabled people the word and construct is part of the disabling mechanisms of society that decide that some forms of "dependence" are "normal" and socially acceptable, whilst others are a burden to the state and one's neighbours.
>
> Larry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The Disability-Research Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Morris
> Sent: 23 September 2014 13:55
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: What does "independence" mean for disabled people
>
> The widespread use of the word "independence" during the Scottish referendum campaign, and the contrast with the way the word is used in the UK context of welfare reform and adult social care services, prompted me to write this blog. http://jennymorrisnet.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/independence.html
>
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