Disability, Self-Representation, and Care
In this paper, I examine the implications that the often-used slogan of disability rights, “Nothing about us without us,” has for our understanding of disability identity. I argue that externally labeling a person as disabled violates the principle of self-representation that is at the core of comm...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Western Ontario
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Feminist Philosophy Quarterly |
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| Online Access: | https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/fpq/article/view/16832 |
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| _version_ | 1849762536933556224 |
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| author | T.J. Buttgereit |
| author_facet | T.J. Buttgereit |
| author_sort | T.J. Buttgereit |
| collection | DOAJ |
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In this paper, I examine the implications that the often-used slogan of disability rights, “Nothing about us without us,” has for our understanding of disability identity. I argue that externally labeling a person as disabled violates the principle of self-representation that is at the core of commitment to disability justice. But this concept of self-representation is complicated when we consider those deemed disabled who are incapable of communicating or perhaps even forming a disability identity. With these individuals in mind, I ask, How can self-representation be violated when a person is incapable of forming their own identity? What if external labeling is necessary for caregivers to provide care to their charges? In raising these questions, I seek to highlight how cases of noncommunicative individuals challenge us to rearticulate the meaning of self-identification and recognize the injustice of violating it, even when other obligations to them demand that we do so.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4f6a0cec7c9a4e90ad5c27a220016dfa |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2371-2570 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | University of Western Ontario |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Feminist Philosophy Quarterly |
| spelling | doaj-art-4f6a0cec7c9a4e90ad5c27a220016dfa2025-08-20T03:05:42ZengUniversity of Western OntarioFeminist Philosophy Quarterly2371-25702025-03-01111Disability, Self-Representation, and CareT.J. Buttgereit0Binghamton University In this paper, I examine the implications that the often-used slogan of disability rights, “Nothing about us without us,” has for our understanding of disability identity. I argue that externally labeling a person as disabled violates the principle of self-representation that is at the core of commitment to disability justice. But this concept of self-representation is complicated when we consider those deemed disabled who are incapable of communicating or perhaps even forming a disability identity. With these individuals in mind, I ask, How can self-representation be violated when a person is incapable of forming their own identity? What if external labeling is necessary for caregivers to provide care to their charges? In raising these questions, I seek to highlight how cases of noncommunicative individuals challenge us to rearticulate the meaning of self-identification and recognize the injustice of violating it, even when other obligations to them demand that we do so. https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/fpq/article/view/16832disability identityself-representationcare ethicsdisability studies |
| spellingShingle | T.J. Buttgereit Disability, Self-Representation, and Care Feminist Philosophy Quarterly disability identity self-representation care ethics disability studies |
| title | Disability, Self-Representation, and Care |
| title_full | Disability, Self-Representation, and Care |
| title_fullStr | Disability, Self-Representation, and Care |
| title_full_unstemmed | Disability, Self-Representation, and Care |
| title_short | Disability, Self-Representation, and Care |
| title_sort | disability self representation and care |
| topic | disability identity self-representation care ethics disability studies |
| url | https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/fpq/article/view/16832 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tjbuttgereit disabilityselfrepresentationandcare |