Mike Oliver's protest is very accurate. But when he reaches the end of his
message he makes a puzzling comment. Does Cassuto represent US disability
studies scholars? Has Mike not read any of our publications? In no way
does Cassuto represent the US branch of the international movement. In
fact I have never even heard of Cassuto and, to make my point even
further, the SDS meeting was in Oakland, not San Francisco. Minor point?
No, carelessness on Cassuto's part. David Mitchell has already sent his
letter to the Chronicle in response to Cassuto and mine will soon follow.
I shall post it here also.....David
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David Pfeiffer, Ph.D.
Resident Scholar
Center on Disability Studies
University of Hawai`i at Manoa
[log in to unmask]
On Thu, 18 Mar 1999, OLIVER MICHAEL J wrote:
> I read the article by Cassuto with a growing sense of disbelief. Has
> he never heard of Britain let alone the substantial work we have
> already done on the relationship between disability and research, as
> well as disability studies more generally.
>
> The world's leading disability studies journal began publishing in
> Britain in 1986 and in 1992 we devoted a whole edition on disability
> research.This has been taken further in publications by Barnes and
> Mercer (1997), Barton and Clough (1996. 1999) and Moore et al (1998).
> As well as that Stone and Priestley made a contribution to the debate
> in the British Journal of Sociology (1996).
>
> More generally Jenny Morris has reflected extensively on the
> relationshipship between her impairment and her work as have I
> drawing on the ideas of Gramsci and his work on organic and
> positional intellectuals.
>
> The position Cassuto takes on self-identification is untenable in
> British disability studies because of the close connection between
> disability studies and the movement. Put simply, disabled people
> would just not tolerate it.
>
> Is Cassuto's position paper a true reflection on the state (and I use
> the term advisedly) of American disability studies? If so, what are
> American scolars trying to do - pursue their own careers, re-invent
> the wheel or intellectually masturbate each other?
>
> Perhaps we should discuss that!
>
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