Capitalism and the social oppression of people with impairments

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Capitalism and the social oppression of people
with impairments

• Bob Williams-Findlay
• Disability Equality
• Human Rights Trainer

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The Birth of the Disabled Peoples Movement

• The late 1960s saw May 68, the rise of both the
  Civil Rights and Womens Movements
• The Independent Living Movement grew out of the
  US Disability Rights Movement, which began in the
  early 1970s. The IL Movement works at replacing
  the special education and rehabilitation experts
  concepts of integration, normalization and
  rehabilitation with a new paradigm developed by
  disabled people themselves.

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The Birth of the Disabled Peoples Movement

• The Union of the Physically Impaired Against
  Segregation was founded in 1972 and disbanded in
  1990. It nevertheless lay the basis for the UK
  Movement
• It was started by Paul Hunt when he wrote a
  letter to the Guardian inviting disabled people
  to join with him to form a group to tackle
  disability.

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The Birth of the Disabled Peoples Movement

• UPIAS became the first disability liberation
  group in the UK, and one of the first in the
  world, and certainly the most advanced in the
  world.
• What it had to offer disabled people was an
  analysis of disability - fairly basic, but an
  analysis of disability in which they presented a
  new concept. They presented disability as a
  social relationship in which disabled people were
  oppressed. And in doing this they were
  overturning the concept of disability as
  basically a biologically determined condition.

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Over the years many disabled people
have campaigned for justice, equal rights and
an end to discrimination.
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What is meant by Disability?

• The 1970s saw some disabled people question why
  they were placed in special places and viewed
  as burdens on society
• They argued that the way people viewed
  disability had led to the exclusion and
  segregation of those with significant impairments.

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What is meant by Disability?

• Disabled activists and academics began to develop
  a historical materialist analysis of people with
  impairments social relationships within given
  societies.
• Thus the meanings given to disability are
  historically specific.

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Historical Background

• Once upon a time disability was seen as an act
  of God a punishment for the parents or the
  persons sin in this or a former life.
• Just prior to the Industrial Revolution the focus
  shifted from spiritual to physical well-being and
  this finally resulted in the development of a
  medical classification system under capitalism.

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Historical Background

• By the middle of the nineteenth century British
  society had felt the impact of the Industrial
  Revolution. The harsh realities it produced
  created economic and social upheavals which
  brought about, in turn, moral panics around the
  fear of illness, disease and depravity. Social
  reformers sought to replace chaos with control -
  contours around what was considered normal were
  drawn and those groups thought to be polluting
  society - outside normality - were withdrawn
  from the public gaze.

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Historical Background

• The increased usage of institutionalisation, the
  birth of the eugenics movement and the
  proliferation of charities contributed towards
  cleansing society of its mad and hapless
  cripples. Non-conformity was unacceptable and
  those people deemed incapable of keeping
  standards associated with normal activities -
  productive and reproductive - had to be taken
  care of in more senses than one.

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Historical Background

• The First World War cemented the view that
  disability was a personal tragedy based on
  the notion that the loss of bodily function also
  means a break with able-bodied normality
• Hence, the less a person functions like a normal
  person, the more disabled they were adjudged
  to be

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Models of Disability

• Individual model (sometimes called the Medical
  Model) tends to view disability as either a
  personal tragedy or a failure to be normal
• Social model sees disability as the negative
  outcome resulting from systems, structures and
  attitudes within society (i.e. disabling barriers)

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Models of Disability

• Individual Model of Disability legitimises how
  capitalist society socially constructs and
  creates disability.
• Social construction around dominant ideologies
  such as individualism and normality
• Social creation the systematic failure to
  address disabling barriers and institutional
  discrimination e.g. exploitative social relations
  in the labour market

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Individual Model of Disability
Cant walk, talk, see, hear, work, climb
stairs, read written info, speak, etc.
Is passive or dependant confined to
a wheelchair, housebound, etc.
The Disabled Person
Is a burden needs care, help, services takes
and doesnt give
Is sick or ill waiting for a cure, confusion
between illness and disability
Object of pity or sorrow recipient of charity,
has special needs which dont get met by
mainstream services or funding, etc.
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Disability as Tragedy

• If a wheelchair user is unable to access a
  building because it has steps the reason is
  their inability to walk
• If a Deaf person is unable to follow a
  conversation the reason is their inability to
  hear
• If a person with learning difficulties gets lost
  the reason is their lack of ability to
  understand directions

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Disability as Tragedy

• The model sees disability as being the degree to
  which a person fails to conform to the expected
  and accepted norms linked to daily functional
  activities
• Disability is located within the individual and
  therefore blames their impairment for any
  social disadvantage they encounter

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Disability as Tragedy

• Maintains that disability should be cured
  through medicine and treatment. But what are the
  implications of this approach if the persons
  situation cannot be altered this way?
• Leads to actions to end the suffering or
  placing disabled people into special provisions
  due to their special needs

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Disability as Tragedy

• Individual model of disability maintains the view
  is that disabled people need to fit into society.
  It justifies a cycle of exclusion and dependency
  due to common attitudes and prejudices as well as
  inappropriate practices.

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Consequences

• Disabled people have faced segregation,
  isolation, invisibility discrimination
• Location of the problem within the individual
  a person with a disability
• Created institutional discrimination

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Definitions

• The ICIDH was replaced in 2001 by the
  International Classification on Functioning,
  Disability and Health (ICF) which, attempts to
  look at the impact of the environment, both
  physical and attitudinal, in disabling people
  living with impairments.

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Social Model Definitions of Disability

• Impairment an injury, illness or inherited
  condition that causes or likely to cause a loss
  or difference in the way the body and mind works.
• Disability the loss or limitation of
  opportunities to take part in the general life of
  the community on an equal level with others due
  to physical and social barriers.

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The Social Model of Disability

• Within this model disability is seen as a
  socially created issue. An individual with an
  impairment will not be disabled by society, if
  their social environment acknowledges, removes or
  reduces the disabling barriers they encounter.
  This includes accepting their impairment and the
  social consequences of living with an impairment.

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Social Model

• The social model offers an alternative
  understanding of disability
• Disability is viewed as the outcome of negative
  interactions that takes place between the
  impaired individual and their social environment
  each side, (the impairment / environment) has
  an influence on the interactions

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Social Model

• We refer to negative interactions as being the
  cause of disabling barriers at the micro level of
  society.
• Disabling barriers can be
• negative attitudes towards disabled people
• policies, practices and customs
• the natural or built environment

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Social Model of Disability
Information not in accessible formats e.g. plain
language, Braille, tape, large print, disk,
accessible website, etc.
Inaccessible physical environments including
buildings, transport, poor design, etc.
The Disabling World
Communication barriers e.g. few sign
language Interpreters, no induction (hearing)
loops or alternatives to telephones, assuming
everyone communicates in the same way
Prejudice e.g. attitudes, stereotyping,
assumptions, etc.
Discrimination e.g. inflexible or unfair systems
in organisations
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Social Model

• If a wheelchair user is unable to access a
  building because it has steps the reason is the
  failure to provide a ramp or lift
• If a Deaf person is unable to follow a
  conversation the reason is the
  non-consideration of their communication needs
• If a person with learning difficulties gets lost
  the reason is the fact the directions they were
  given clearly didnt meet their needs

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The Politics of Disability

• The social model sees disability as being imposed
  on top of people who have impairments. Disability
  is viewed as the oppressive social relationships
  people with impairments experience. People with
  impairments are disabled by the structures,
  attitudes and culture found in specific
  societies.

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The Politics of Disability

• Therefore
• For me disabled people are defined in terms of
  three criteria
• (i) they have an impairment
• (ii) they experience oppression as a
• consequence and
• (iii) they identify themselves as a disabled
• person.

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The Politics of Disability

• Using the generic term does not mean that I do
  not recognise differences in experience within
  the group but that in exploring this we should
  start from the ways oppression differentially
  impacts on different groups of people rather than
  with differences in experience among individuals
  with different impairments.
• Mike Oliver from Capitalism, disability and
  ideology A materialist critique
• of the Normalization principle (1999)

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• Disability Terminology
• The term people with disabilities generally
• refers to people with impairments who are
• viewed as having the inability to perform
• normal tasks (sic). It is an oppressive social
• construct.
• Disabled people are seen as people with
• characteristics or impairments that lead to them
• being disabled by the way society is organised.
  It
• is political identity for the Disabled Peoples
• Movement.

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The Politics of Disability

• Through the British Council of Disabled People
• (BCODP) and the Independent Living
• Movement the self-organisation of disabled people
  
• gathered pace during the 1980s.
• It was the same year as a Rights Not Charity
• march took place. Private Members Bills
• seeking legislation came and went. Research
• commissioned by BCODP on the nature of
• discrimination in Britain and acted as a turning
  point.

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The Politics of Disability

• Both MPs and the public began to take more
• notice and in 1992 a new umbrella
• organisation, Rights Now was established to
• promote a Civil Rights bill. The outrage at
• the first defeat of this bill, forced the
• Government to produce its own legislation
• which became the Disability Discrimination
• Act 1995.

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The Politics of Disability

• The passing of the DDA did lead to a
• surge in awareness about disability
• discrimination among those who came
• to know about the Acts existence,
• however, the nature of the Act itself
• made it unlikely to impact on the
• structures of society where institutional
• discrimination takes place.

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The Politics of Disability

• Demos reported
• ....despite all the apparent progress that
  has been made since the original BCODP report was
  launched, the underlying reality is that disabled
  people continue to face the same barriers that
  they have always faced and that disablism
  remains rife throughout Britain.

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The Politics of Disability

• The Labour Party under Smith were
• listening to disabled people and agreed
• to bring in new social model based
• legislation when elected. This changed
• under Blair
• Token changes tinkered with DDA
• Ignored disabled peoples groups
• Launched witch hunt against disabled people on
  benefits via Purnell and Freud

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The Politics of Disability

• I would argue New Labour helped to demobilize the
  Disabled Peoples Movement a social movement.
• The Movement became fractured, de-politicized and
  isolated not too unlike the Left!

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The Politics of Disability

• Many of the policies adopted by the
• CONDEM Government originate with New
• Labour Freud, an ex-merchant banker,
• swapping sides to become a Lord and
• lead the attack. The attack is simply
• starker and more hard hitting than
• Labour planned. It is about restructuring
• the State not the myth of UK Debt.

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The Cuts and Disabled People

• Using Tory press to stigmatise disabled people in
  a style similar to the Nazis
• Forcing disabled people who are also ill to enter
  a labour market that discriminates against them
  suicides have already occurred.
• The cuts in social care and the
• restructuring of NHS will leave many at
• risk.

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The Cuts and Disabled People

• The welfare reform will remove a quarter of
  disabled claimants out of benefits altogether and
  make it harder to claim.
• Will individualise and medicalise the assessment
  process ESA, PIP, etc
• Housing Benefit and ILF changes will lead to
  institutional rather than independent living

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The Cuts and Disabled People

• CONDEM cuts attack disabled peoples human rights
  and violate UN Convention on Rights of Disabled
  Persons
• Disabled People Against Cuts is the radical voice
  of disabled people from within the old Disabled
  Peoples Movement

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Talking about the Left

• The Lefts understanding of the politics of
  disability is extremely poor
• Ernest Mandel one of the few non-disabled
  Marxists to even engage with the issue
• Many of the Lefts theories, policies and
  practices exclude disabled people and are
  therefore, albeit unintentionally, colluding in
  the social oppression of disabled people

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• Disabled people are part of the anti-capitalist
  struggle
• Nothing About Us, Without Us!