Ableism
Encyclopedia
- Discrimination faced by those with mental disordersMental illnessA mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
is sometimes called Mentalism (discrimination)Mentalism (discrimination)Mentalism is a form of discrimination and oppression against people based on categorization of mental type , mental action , supposed intelligence, or neurology Mentalism (also known as sanism) is a form of discrimination and oppression against people based on categorization of mental type (e.g....
rather than ableism.
Ableism is a form of discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
or social prejudice against people with disabilities. It is known by many names, including disability discrimination, physicalism, handicapism, and disability oppression. It is also sometimes known as disablism, although there is some dispute as to whether ableism and disablism are synonymous, and some people within disability rights
Disability rights movement
The disability rights movement is the movement to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for people with disabilities. The specific goals and demands of the movement are: accessibility and safety in transportation, architecture, and the physical environment, equal opportunities in independent...
circles find the latter term's use inaccurate.
Definition of the concept
Similar to many of the assumptions underlying the medical model of disabilityMedical model of disability
The medical model of disability is a sociopolitical model by which illness or disability, being the result of a physical condition, and which is intrinsic to the individual , may reduce the individual's quality of life, and causes clear disadvantages to the individual.It is today specifically...
amongst many clinicians, the "ableist" societal world-view is that the able-bodied
Able-bodied
Able-bodied refers, in law, to an individual's physical or mental capacity for gainful employment or military service, and it is in this sense that the term is also used regarding eligibility for payment of child support or alimony....
are the norm in society, and that people who have disabilities must either strive to become that norm or should keep their distance from able-bodied
Able-bodied
Able-bodied refers, in law, to an individual's physical or mental capacity for gainful employment or military service, and it is in this sense that the term is also used regarding eligibility for payment of child support or alimony....
people. A disability is thus, inherently, a "bad" thing that must be overcome. The ableist worldview holds that disability is an error, a mistake, or a failing, rather than a simple consequence of human diversity, akin to race, ethnicity
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
, sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
or gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
.
Fiona A Kumari Campbell, Senior Lecturer in disability studies
Disability studies
Disability studies is a relatively new interdisciplinary academic field focusing on the roles of people with disabilities in history, literature, social policy, law, architecture, and other disciplines. Although it has many antecedents, disability studies began to flourish toward the end of the...
at Griffith University
Griffith University
Griffith University is a public, coeducational, research university located in the southeastern region of the Australian state of Queensland. The university has five satellite campuses located in the Gold Coast, Logan City and in the Brisbane suburbs of Mount Gravatt, Nathan and South Bank. Current...
, draws a distinction between disablism and ableism. Disablism, she notes, has been the traditional focus of study within the field of disability studies
Disability studies
Disability studies is a relatively new interdisciplinary academic field focusing on the roles of people with disabilities in history, literature, social policy, law, architecture, and other disciplines. Although it has many antecedents, disability studies began to flourish toward the end of the...
. Disablism promotes the unequal treatment of the (physically) disabled versus the able-bodied. It marks the disabled as the Other
Other
The Other or Constitutive Other is a key concept in continental philosophy; it opposes the Same. The Other refers, or attempts to refer, to that which is Other than the initial concept being considered...
, and works from the perspective of the able-bodied.
Citing prior work , Campbell acknowledges that the concept of ableism is, as of 2009, not clearly defined in the literature and has "limited definitional or conceptual specifity". She herself distinguishes between ableism and disablism, defining the former as:
A network of beliefs, processes and practices that produces a particular kind of self and body (the corporeal standard) that is projected as the perfect, species-typical, and therefore essential and fully human. Disability is then cast as a diminished state of being human.
Other definitions of ableism include those of Vera Chouinard (professor of geography at McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
), who defines it as "ideas, practices, institutions, and social relations that presume able-bodiedness, and by so doing, construct persons with disabilities as marginalized […] and largely invisible 'others'" and Ron Amundson (professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo
University of Hawaii at Hilo
The University of Hawaii at Hilo, UHH, or UH Hilo is one of the ten branches of the University of Hawaii system anchored by the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in Honolulu, Hawaii...
) and Gayle Taira, who define it as "a doctrine that falsely treats impairments as inherently and naturally horrible and blames the impairments themselves for the problems experienced by the people who have them".
Harpur (Research Fellow in Employment Relations at Griffith University) argues that the term ableism is a powerful label that has the capacity to ameliorate the use of negative stereotypes and facilitate cultural change by focusing attention on the discriminator rather than on the victim or impairment.
Laws in the United States defending the disabled
In the U.S., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) enacted into law certain civilCivil law (common law)
Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...
penalties for failing to make public places comply with access codes known as the ADA Access Guidelines (ADAAG); this law also helped expand the use of certain adaptive devices, such as TTYs (phone systems for the deaf/speech impaired), some computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
-related hardware and software, and ramps
Wheelchair ramp
A wheelchair ramp is an inclined plane installed in addition to or instead of stairs. Ramps permit wheelchair users, as well as people pushing strollers, carts, or other wheeled objects, to more easily access a building....
or lifts on public transportation bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es and private automobiles. In the UK, meanwhile, the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act
Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which has now been repealed and replaced by the Equality Act 2010 , except in Northern Ireland where the Act still applies...
and Disability Discrimination Act 2005
Disability Discrimination Act 2005
The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.-Section 20 - Short title, interpretation, commencement and extent:The following orders have been made under section 20:*...
and the Equality Act 2010 attempt the same.
However, neither of these laws requires all buildings constructed before the date of the Act to be modified to fit the physical directives of the Act. Instead, these directives are applied to three general categories of buildings: 1) existing Government administration buildings and structures regardless of age; 2) all newly-constructed buildings and structures; and, 3) significantly renovated and/or refurbished buildings and structures. Therefore, in general, due to overriding regulatory frameworks such as landmark status
Historic site
A historic site is an official location where pieces of political, military or social history have been preserved. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have recognized with the official national historic site status...
es, historic building statuses, and similar, very few older structures in a given society may be modified according to the new requirements.
Sometimes, under their own power and for their own reasons, a business or service that does not have to modify its building structure to fit the accessibility requirements will modify it anyway. But other times, this does not happen, and the building continues to be fundamentally inaccessible to people with physical disabilities.
California Law
In addition to the federal protections provided by the ADA, California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (“FEHA”) provides additional protections to California employees. Notably, FEHA applies to employers with 5 or more employees and offers more extensive protection than the ADA.
See also
- ADAPTADAPTADAPT is a grassroots United States disability rights organization with chapters in 30 states. It is known for being part of the militant wing of the disability rights movement due to its history of nonviolent direct action in order to bring attention to the lack of civil rights the disability...
- AudismAudismAudism is a term typically used to describe discrimination against deaf or hard of hearing people, although it could also be expanded to include anyone with a difference in hearing ability. This discrimination can occur in a number of forms in a range that includes both physical, cultural, and...
- Autism rights movementAutism rights movementThe autism rights movement is a social movement that encourages autistic people, their caregivers and society to adopt a position of neurodiversity, accepting autism as a variation in functioning rather than a mental disorder to be cured...
- Custom employment
- Disability etiquetteDisability etiquetteDisability etiquette is a term describing guidelines dealing specifically with how to approach people with disabilities.There is no consensus on when this phrase first came into use, although it most likely grew out of the Disability Rights Movement that began in the early 1970s...
- Disability hate crimeDisability hate crimeDisability hate crime is hate crime arising from the hostility of the perpetrator towards the disability, or perceived disability, of the victim, or because of their perceived connection to disability...
- Disability rights
- Inclusion (disability rights)Inclusion (disability rights)Inclusion is a term used by people with disabilities and other disability rights advocates for the idea that all people should freely, openly and without pity accommodate any person with a disability without restrictions or limitations of any kind...
- IntersectionalityIntersectionalityIntersectionality is a feminist sociological theory first highlighted by Kimberlé Crenshaw . Intersectionality is a methodology of studying "the relationships among multiple dimensions and modalities of social relationships and subject formations"...
- KyriarchyKyriarchyKyriarchy is a neologism coined by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza to describe interconnected, interacting, and multiplicative systems of domination and submission, within which a person oppressed in one context might be privileged in another...
- List of disability rights activists
- Psychophobia
- Social criticismSocial criticismThe term social criticism locates the reasons for malicious conditions of the society in flawed social structures. People adhering to a social critics aim at practical solutions by specific measures, often consensual reform but sometimes also by powerful revolution.- European roots :Religious...
- Phillip Davies
External links
- Alliance for Technology Access
- Center for Disability Law and Policy
- Ragged Edge Online
- "The Social Movement Left Out" - Z Magazine article by Marta Russell
- Nonprofit Research Collection on Disability & Employment Published on IssueLab
- Beating Disablism
- Disablism
- Disability Studies Italy
- Disability Discrimination Information and News