Dear Mairian,
You said a lot in that last letter. Rather than respond to every point and
tax the interest of this list, I'll focus on one.
I am very sorry if I misrepresented your work. I am referring to this
quotation from your last letter:
"I think it would be really bad news to put a non-disabled person
on the platform with Singer because, since he's such a slippery customer,
he's bound to twist it somehow to say well there you are - disabled people
(apart from Adrienne of course) can't speak for themselves. The strategic
opportunities that are created should maximise the potential for putting
disabled leaders in disability studies in the limelight - or have we
suddenly forgotten our politics of visibility? - and I have no problem with
the list that Lennard has given. It is precisely at times like this that
non-disabled people should step back from the spotlight and concentrate on
the lighting and the scenery."
It seems to me if you are actively using a binary involving
disabled/non-disabled. Am I misrepresenting what you wrote above? I don't
see the fluidity above that you describe below.
nt my work or at least you operate on your own
>interpretations of it (which may or may not reflect mine). I have ALWAYS
>viewed binary relationships as fluid and have attempted to deconstruct them
>in order to understand this fluidity better. I have also said many times
>that binaries are artificial. But I do wonder which binary you think I'm
>referring to?
>
>(snip)
>
>As for the rest of your post, I'll respond briefly. It seems
contradictory that you say you advocate disabled-only just for the Singer
scenario, then say that you agree with Simi when she advocates
disabled-only leadership for disability studies.
Another point about leadership...who picks leaders? How does one become a
leader? Over the will of the consituency? It seems to me, as I said
earlier, that there is little chance that a constituency in dis. studies,
for example, would generate general leadership by non-disabled people.
As for the race issue, I don't think you, I, or David disagree about the
civil rights movement in America or in South Africa. Let's not try to
claim the upper hand in that area. But I don't think we should deny the
role of activists of all colors. I, for one, worked for CORE in the
1960's. So did many whites. In big causes, many hands make light the
work.
Best,
Lennard J. Davis
Professor and Graduate Director
Department of English
Binghamton University
Binghamton, NY 13902
607-777-2770 Fax: 607-777-2408
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