donam wrote:
> The whole Disability-Rights movement was founded on, what, then--
> gripes? Was there not an aim, a solution sought, after a well-
> theorized recognition of The Problem was set down?
>
> The feminist movement, the black/gay pride movements... all begun and
> developed without the benefit of theory? Without solutions in mind?
> Without examining the oppressed life and its opposite, an existence
> of freedom and inclusion and civil rights?
No, they were not started, did not begin, with a theory. The Civil Rights
Movement began with Black people saying, "Hey, wait a minute the Constitution
says that ALL men are created equal not all white men but all men." The
women's movement started by saying, "Well, if Black men are equal to white men
and they've been enslaved then that means were equal too because we were never
enslaved." And so on and so on. These are not academic theories. They are
ideas. They are not solutions, although they imply solutions. And, yes,
people came along afterwards and created theories and models based upon these
ideas but that's not how the movements got started, gained momentum or got
whatever results they've gotten (or not gotten).
The academic theories were created after or during the movements by academics.
Although academics have sometimes been a part of various movements (Cornell
West, WEB DuBois, Angela Davis, etc.), their theories stayed, primarily, in the
academic realm (as in, the general population of the movement was not aware of
the theories being created pertaining to the movement).
The Social model of disability is not a solution to discrimination. It is one
explanation of what occurs in society towards Disabled people, just as the
Medical model does and is. The Disability Civil Rights movement did not need
to create an academic theory to have a movement or to attempt to gain civil
rights -- and most people in the movement wouldn't know what the social model
of disability was if you asked them to define it. However, that does not mean
they don't know what is holding them back -- society not their disability --
and most in the movement (and some even outside the movement) knew that long
before the movement was a movement -- it's not like one has to be a nuclear
physicist to figure it out. But knowing something intrinsically and creating
academic theory or models are not the same thing.
Now, this does not mean that academics aren't and or can't be political
advocates or that their work cannot and or does not have political
ramifications. However, it is rarely, if ever, the theory or model that makes
it to the political arena. It is the rhetoric, the analyzation, the critique
and even these only make it into the political arena after the movement made an
impact and already stated its case (usually with the same basic analysis
already done just not in "academic" fashion).
--
Carolyn
check out, "Passing, Invisibility and Other Psychotic Stuff" at
http://www.tell-us-your-story.com/_disc68r/00000003.htm
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