My apologies for cross-postings. This post is directed in particular to
those who will be attending the Learned Societies Conference at Dalhousie
University in Halifax, Nova Scotia next week...
In an earlier post to this list, I indicated that the joint session of the
Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy and the Canadian Philosophical
Association would interest those who work in the area of critical disability
studies/theory. Here is more information about the session.
JOINT SESSION
CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR WOMEN IN PHILOSOPHY (CSWIP)
THE IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL DISABILITY THEORY FOR PHILOSOPHY
Friday, May 30th, 2:00-5:30 in 301A Dunn Building
Co-Chair: Christine Koggel (Bryn Mawr)
Co-Chair: Shelley Tremain (UBC)
Speakers:
Shelley Tremain (UBC)
Amy Mullin (Toronto)
Kathryn Morgan (Toronto)
Christine Overall (Queen's)
Abstracts
"When Critical Disability Theory Emerged in Philosophical Discourse"
Shelley Tremain
In this presentation, I situate the emergence of critical disability theory
within a contemporary moment of philosophical discourse, as well as situate
this moment within a broader social milieu. I argue, first of all, that
philosophy has been just as susceptible to cultural prejudices and biases
about disabled people as it has been to discriminatory views about women,
people of colour, and other oppressed groups. I argue, furthermore, that
critical disability theory in particular and "disability studies" in general
can enable philosophers to overcome these biases and prejudices. After
providing a brief introduction to the field of disability studies and to
critical disability theory, I consider a line of philosophical argumentation
that is currently made in liberal bio-ethics and theories of justice and
health care, which has especially detrimental effects on disabled people.
"Disability Theory, Children, and Care"
Amy Mullin
I investigate how the ideology of motherhood, which assumes that mothers on
their own can meet all but the financial needs of their children, impacts on
the experiences of those care for children with mental and physical
impairments and of people with physical or mental impairments who care for
children. Insights from critical disability theory can lead us (1) to
critique ways in which the ideology of motherhood negatively impacts people
in these care giving situations, and (2) point to inadequacies in any
idealization of privatized mothering. Finally (3), disability theorists who
focus on care provided to children can help us challenge associations
between dependency and children, such that someone who needs care is either
looked upon or made to feel ‘like a child.’
"Humpty Dumpty: The Sequel"
Kathryn Morgan
In my presentation, I explore the question of “Then what?” following the
abandonment of Humpty Dumpty, the (infertile?) disabled subject. I present a
taxonomy of 5 major theoretical approaches in Critical Disability Studies:
(1) biomedical, (2) social constructionist (3) minority identity politics,
(4) cyborgian poststructualist, and (5) post-colonial. Taking up Nirmala
Erevelles' question, "In Search of the Disabled Subject," I show how each of
these theoretical approaches articulates very different models of embodied
subjectivity and correlative political directions for Humpty Dumpty and her
ovular sequel.
"Age and Ageism, Impairment and Ableism: Exploring the Conceptual and
Material Connections"
Christine Overall
Drawing partly upon a recent paper by Shelley Tremain, as well as my own
current work on aging and human longevity and on the concepts of sex and
life stages, in this presentation I will explore the conceptual and material
similarities and connections between age/aging and impairment/disability. I
argue that they are socially constructed in two different ways: first,
conceptually, by picking out certain human features (or groups of features)
to constitute the connotation of each term; second, materially, through the
deliberate shaping and manipulation of real human features (or groups of
features). The latter, the material construction, occurs both at the
individual level--e.g., through teratogenic drugs in the case of impairment,
and through workplace hazards, in the case of aging--and at the societal
level, through factors such as poverty, racism, and classism. The social
institutions that systematically produce age and impairment as social
problems can, broadly, be called ageism and ableism, through which an
individual's years lived, and certain bodily features, become sources of
personal shame, and through which it becomes supposedly self-evident that a
life lived with impairments and a life lived in old age are scarcely worth
living. Finally, because there is a real (though imperfect) correlation
between years lived and certain bodily features, ageism and ableism are
strongly linked. I argue that the social creation of life stages, especially
for women, contributes to the inter-personal validation of the supposed
independent reality of impairments.
Disability Studies Caucus of CSWIP:
The Disability Studies Caucus of CSWIP emerged out of the annual CSWIP
conference which was held in Edmonton in October 2002. The goals of the
Caucus are: 1) to make the Canadian philosophical community aware of
critical work on disability; 2) to provide venues for philosophical feminist
work on disability; and 3) to challenge and subvert discriminatory
assumptions and biases about disabled people in philosophy. The CSWIP
Disability Studies Caucus welcomes new members. For more information about,
or to join the CSWIP Disability Studies Caucus, come to an organizational
meeting on Friday, May 30th, at 1:30 in 301A Dunn Building, Dalhousie
University, Halifax, NS, or email: [log in to unmask]
Best regards,
Shelley Tremain, Chair,
Disability Studies Caucus
of the Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy
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