Identity, Efficiency and Disability Rights

Abstract

No abstract available

Disability Group Identification and Disability-Rights Advocacy

“…These implications may seem controversial, harkening back to identity politics which may be at odds with more inclusive, hybrid, and embodied approaches to disability identity. But many disability scholars (Little, 2010) have argued that there remains an ongoing need for disability activism requiring the deployment of collective identity to challenge hegemonic values assuming disabled people to be disengaged, in need of protection, and desirous of cure. One route less travelled may still be acceptance of disability as a positive and centrally important aspect of one’s identity.…”

“…Like other minority groups, disabled people have forged an affirmative sense of identity as part of a larger collective, reclaiming disability as a valued cultural heritage (Kaplan & Liu, 2000). Historically, the disability-rights movement has encouraged disability identification and collective action for social change (Little, 2010), but psychological theorists have been slow to recognize disability as a socially determined construct, independent of specific impairments (see Nario-Redmond, 2010). Research has consistently found that strategic responses to stigma critically depend on how one’s disadvantaged status is appraised and whether one identifies positively as a group member (Lindly, Nario-Redmond, & Noel, 2014; Outten, Schmitt, Garcia, & Branscombe, 2009).…”

Redefining Disability, Re-imagining the Self: Disability Identification Predicts Self-esteem and Strategic Responses to Stigma

“…For example, Lightman, Vick, Herd, and Mitchell (2010) posit that episodic disabilities require more fluid understandings that allow for identification across disabled and non-disabled divides. Others argue that there remains an ongoing need for disability activism requiring the deployment of collective identity, including the creation of clear group boundaries and distinct categories, as a challenge to hegemonic cultural values and discriminatory practices (Little, 2010). Social change then creates real change in which both subordinate and dominant groups come to accept the positive redefinition of stigmatized categories (Cox & Gallois, 1996).…”

The social identity approach to disability: Bridging disability studies and psychological science.

“…These are crucial to cultivating the belief that not only is the unequal status quo illegitimate but that the status relations are unstable and changeable with a strong collective effort. As Little (2010) shows, this reorientation to disability is enabled by engagement with disability organizations that have a “rights-based” mission. Moreover, engagement with popular media representations of disability as a positive yet complex experience can potentially bolster PWDs willingness to identify as disabled (Zhang & Haller, 2013).…”