Open AccessTowards a Critical Theory of Disability in Social Work
Author(s) -
Vanmala Sunder Hiranandani
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
critical social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1543-9372
DOI - 10.22329/csw.v6i1.5712
Subject(s) - disability studies , critical theory , foundation (evidence) , social model of disability , sociology , discipline , materialism , epistemology , medical model of disability , power (physics) , politics , work (physics) , inclusion (mineral) , social science , social psychology , psychology , gender studies , political science , law , mechanical engineering , philosophy , physics , quantum mechanics , psychiatry , engineering
The dominant discourse on disability in social work has been that of an individual/medical model, which largely relegates the ‘problem’ of disability to a deficit within the individual. This paper calls for re-visioning disability: notions of disability in social work are contrasted with alternative frameworks, such as social and cultural constructions, materialist and political economy perspectives, and critiques of disciplinary power and the discourses of normalcy and measurement. These alternative conceptualizations drawn from humanities, social sciences, and disability studies can form the foundation of a dynamic critical theory of disability that questions impairment as necessarily a personal tragedy, and asserts that the notion of individual inadequacy is socially reproduced.