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A very interesting idea, but I don't think it's one of my better essays. I went to the library because I couldn't really find anything on this specific topic anywhere else, so I really think I'm breaking a bit of ground with the concept at least. The research specialist at the library suggested that it was more of a Ph.D. topic than one appropriate for a 2nd year essay ;). I got good feedback last year from my 3rd year Feminist Political Theory prof on my essay that used the post-modern theory I learned in feminist disability theory to examine the issue of performing analysis on multicultural issues without falling into cultural appropriation or imperialism. Funny enough, I turn to feminist disability theory again in this essay... I'm noticing a trend (well, and the fact that it seriously excites me as a framework in which to examine just about any social or political issue... it has been suggested to me by more than one member of the faculty there that I do post-graduate work on it... sigh). Anyway, the course this essay is for is titled "Critical Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class", and the prompt for the essay (one of 9 I could choose from) was: "Disability, accessibility and space (you need to figure out which space you want to focus on for this topic)".
Parenthood as Impairment
in a Neo-Liberal Capitalist Society
Impairment in our society can lead to disability — in the workplace, in congregations of people, in taking care of every day needs, in the dynamics of interpersonal relationships — that can grow to dominate or even define one’s value or place within the world. While the impact of this socially constructed identity is utterly pervasive and intrusive into the life of the so disabled, it is amplified by all the same intersecting factors that lead to disadvantage in the neo-liberal capitalist society that is being actualized by the Global North: gender, race, class, age, sexual orientation, nationality, immigrant status, and heritage with respect to colonization (e.g. aboriginal peoples all over the world) to name some key factors. While the impacts of physical and overt mental impairments on the accessibility to infrastructure and the means of participating in this capitalist society has been well documented, there are many other conditions whose symptoms and intersectional profile mirror that faced by those with visible impairments. One of these is the systematic disability imposed on individuals with the impairment of parenthood.
( The rest of the essay is here... )
But it is not a foregone conclusion that the world will allow the Global North's notions of neo-liberal global capitalism to succeed in the long term. While those controlling this movement are filling their pockets with unimaginable wealth, they are also undermining the strengths and cohesion of the societies that provided them with the imperialist power to enact their agendas. Against the backdrop of globalization, there continues to be a counter-movement to prevent the dystopian future just presented. If a disability is only relevant in context of particular environments or spaces, whether an impairment becomes a disability in those environments is a function of the level of its accessibility. An accessible society is one in which people with impairments can readily participate, and respects the basic dignity and civil rights of all individuals within a given society “to participate in all of that society’s activities: education, work, commerce, civic life, and government programs and services”. (Dell Orto) The classic example of accessibility is that of a person in a wheelchair attempting to access a government office or place of business: if the architecture does not provide them with a means of entering and navigating the space, then it is inaccessible to that person and their impairment manifests as a physical disability. The question with respect to parenthood becomes one of how to move past the thinking of the industrial revolution and neo-colonial imperialist world of global corporations and into a society where the private domain of child rearing and the public domain of the workplace are merged. This concept goes far beyond the notion of “reasonable accommodation” or access — which only addresses the symptoms of the underlying issues — and requires a deep analysis of the role of reproduction in our society. The theoretical framework for such an exploration is largely in place or being constructed under the guise of “feminist disability studies,” and can be applied to analysis of parenthood as a potentially disabling impairment in a hypercapitalist environment, and subsequently theorize solutions that might be employed to leverage this notion to illustrate the damaging effects of neo-liberal policies as part of a strategy of resistance to it. Abstract concepts arrived at through post-modernist deconstruction of the means by which neo-liberalism is manifesting itself in our society has failed to grab the hearts and minds of the public, but a tangible argument showing the threat to parenthood and the notion of “family” might.
( And the bibliography is here... )
in a Neo-Liberal Capitalist Society
Impairment in our society can lead to disability — in the workplace, in congregations of people, in taking care of every day needs, in the dynamics of interpersonal relationships — that can grow to dominate or even define one’s value or place within the world. While the impact of this socially constructed identity is utterly pervasive and intrusive into the life of the so disabled, it is amplified by all the same intersecting factors that lead to disadvantage in the neo-liberal capitalist society that is being actualized by the Global North: gender, race, class, age, sexual orientation, nationality, immigrant status, and heritage with respect to colonization (e.g. aboriginal peoples all over the world) to name some key factors. While the impacts of physical and overt mental impairments on the accessibility to infrastructure and the means of participating in this capitalist society has been well documented, there are many other conditions whose symptoms and intersectional profile mirror that faced by those with visible impairments. One of these is the systematic disability imposed on individuals with the impairment of parenthood.
( The rest of the essay is here... )
But it is not a foregone conclusion that the world will allow the Global North's notions of neo-liberal global capitalism to succeed in the long term. While those controlling this movement are filling their pockets with unimaginable wealth, they are also undermining the strengths and cohesion of the societies that provided them with the imperialist power to enact their agendas. Against the backdrop of globalization, there continues to be a counter-movement to prevent the dystopian future just presented. If a disability is only relevant in context of particular environments or spaces, whether an impairment becomes a disability in those environments is a function of the level of its accessibility. An accessible society is one in which people with impairments can readily participate, and respects the basic dignity and civil rights of all individuals within a given society “to participate in all of that society’s activities: education, work, commerce, civic life, and government programs and services”. (Dell Orto) The classic example of accessibility is that of a person in a wheelchair attempting to access a government office or place of business: if the architecture does not provide them with a means of entering and navigating the space, then it is inaccessible to that person and their impairment manifests as a physical disability. The question with respect to parenthood becomes one of how to move past the thinking of the industrial revolution and neo-colonial imperialist world of global corporations and into a society where the private domain of child rearing and the public domain of the workplace are merged. This concept goes far beyond the notion of “reasonable accommodation” or access — which only addresses the symptoms of the underlying issues — and requires a deep analysis of the role of reproduction in our society. The theoretical framework for such an exploration is largely in place or being constructed under the guise of “feminist disability studies,” and can be applied to analysis of parenthood as a potentially disabling impairment in a hypercapitalist environment, and subsequently theorize solutions that might be employed to leverage this notion to illustrate the damaging effects of neo-liberal policies as part of a strategy of resistance to it. Abstract concepts arrived at through post-modernist deconstruction of the means by which neo-liberalism is manifesting itself in our society has failed to grab the hearts and minds of the public, but a tangible argument showing the threat to parenthood and the notion of “family” might.
( And the bibliography is here... )
