The Social Construction of Disability and Justice

Catalog description

Examines the construction of disability as a social, cultural and political phenomenon. Dominant understandings of disability typically use narrow medical and therapeutic explanations and thus disabled individuals often are defined as deviant, stigmatized, incompetent and marginal. Disability is a construct that finds its meaning and representation within a social and cultural context. Accordingly, this class examines the ideologies that such representations can conceal in order to crack the hegemonic facade, challenging the ways in which disability is perceived and treated by the dominant society.