The ESF and Ableism
As I've mentioned previously I made a point while at the ESF of not attending meetings on issues I felt that I was intimately familiar with. I particularly avoided meetings on the Iraq War as I thought there was little chance of much being said that I didn't already know. Some people might appreciate the echo chamber effect of listening to people expound their own opinions for them with cheering and applause at the appropriate junctures. It isn't my thing, however. In this spirit one of the first meetings I attended was one on disability rights. This is an issue I'm not totally unaware of and I'd read a bit on the subject beforehand, but my knowledge was limited and I wouldn't have felt particularly qualified to write about it.
Much of interest was said. One speaker began his contribution by denouncing psychiatry. From what I recall the nicest thing he said in the course of this was that it was the least empirical of sciences. Another issue mentioned was the idea of disability as a social construct, encompassing a wide range of conditions and handicaps. This was set against the mainstream view of the disabled as somehow less than human. Such an interpretation was not entirely new to me, but I think it is one which deserves much wider consideration, if not acceptance.
Speakers also drew links with other issues, notably the war in Iraq and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. They pointed out that disabled people are less able to flee if attacked and recalled the disabling of many thousands by bombs and other weapons. Some mention was made of trade unionists, much of it critical of their lack of action on the issue.
One of the more troubling comments dealt with difficulties the organisers had encountered in trying to get disability rights onto the agenda of the ESF. These had apparently been considerable, although the presence of at least two seminars dealing with the issue in the programme was testament to these problems having been surmounted. They also noted the paucity of meetings with sign language translation and indeed this was the only meeting I saw with such a service, although a friend tells me that there was sign language at one of the other meetings they attended.
All too often ableism, discrimination against those with a disability, is an issue forgotten by those who strongly oppose other forms of oppression. The presence of disability rights activists at the ESF and a chance for them to disseminate their ideas is potentially an important step towards the correction of that problem. It is to be hoped that it is a step which will be built upon.
Much of interest was said. One speaker began his contribution by denouncing psychiatry. From what I recall the nicest thing he said in the course of this was that it was the least empirical of sciences. Another issue mentioned was the idea of disability as a social construct, encompassing a wide range of conditions and handicaps. This was set against the mainstream view of the disabled as somehow less than human. Such an interpretation was not entirely new to me, but I think it is one which deserves much wider consideration, if not acceptance.
Speakers also drew links with other issues, notably the war in Iraq and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. They pointed out that disabled people are less able to flee if attacked and recalled the disabling of many thousands by bombs and other weapons. Some mention was made of trade unionists, much of it critical of their lack of action on the issue.
One of the more troubling comments dealt with difficulties the organisers had encountered in trying to get disability rights onto the agenda of the ESF. These had apparently been considerable, although the presence of at least two seminars dealing with the issue in the programme was testament to these problems having been surmounted. They also noted the paucity of meetings with sign language translation and indeed this was the only meeting I saw with such a service, although a friend tells me that there was sign language at one of the other meetings they attended.
All too often ableism, discrimination against those with a disability, is an issue forgotten by those who strongly oppose other forms of oppression. The presence of disability rights activists at the ESF and a chance for them to disseminate their ideas is potentially an important step towards the correction of that problem. It is to be hoped that it is a step which will be built upon.
posted by Disillusioned kid at 1:19 am
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