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‘Losing the plot’? Medical and activist discourses of contemporary genetics and disability
Author(s) -
Shakespeare Tom
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
sociology of health and illness
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1467-9566
pISSN - 0141-9889
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9566.00178
Subject(s) - medical genetics , rhetorical question , sociology , disability studies , plot (graphics) , civil rights , gender studies , genetics , political science , law , biology , linguistics , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , gene
This paper highlights the absence of disability perspectives from research on the cultural construction of genetics. Specifically, it contrasts the discourse on disability emanating from the medical establishment, with the discourse on genetics emanating from the civil rights movement of disabled people. The rhetorical strategies of both positions are criticised, and greater communication and dialogue between different stakeholders in genetics is advocated.