Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity

Cultural Front

by Simi Linton

Disabled people have emerged from the shadows and back rooms of our institutions, upping the ante on demands for an inclusive society. Claiming Disability captures this moment in the first comprehensive examination of disability studies as a field of inquiry. Arguing that disability studies takes for its subject matter not simply the variations that exist in human behavior, appearance, functioning, sensory acuity, and cognitive processing, but the meaning we make of those variations, this work offers both a passionate challenge to status quo definitions of disability and a methodology for reexamining it.

Genres: Disability, Disability Studies, Nonfiction, Sociology, Philosophy, Academic, Theory

203 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I don't think it is useful to equate disability with pain or with illness" -- I was on board with this book up until this point. And it never explicitly says that chronic illness and chronic pain are not disabilities (or impairments, which seems to be the author's preferred way of describing the individual experience). But she also never says that they are disabilities. And she spends a lot of time demonstrating that disability is not the same as ill health or weakness. So I'm left wondering, in this vision of Disability Studies that Linton has created, do I count? Or do my invisible impairments not grant me access to this world?

But okay, I move on, because even if she's not speaking my story, she is speaking the story of people with very visible impairments, which are very visibly problematized by society, and it's important to know about this -- because while my individual impairments are largely invisible, whole societies of people with visible impairments are often unseen, unheard, and unrecognized as full human beings by able-bodied society. This stuff matters, and Linton spends much time explaining how disciplines other than medicine and occupational therapy could be exploring disability, from literature and philosophy to sociology and architecture.

I do wonder if I would have rated this higher if I hadn't just read Wendell's The Rejected Body immediately before. That book spoke my words with an eloquence and power I wish I had, and was brilliantly structured. This one... like i said earlier, even after reading it I'm not sure if I count here. (Yes/No, I can handle either answer, I just want one.), and I got halfway through before really realizing that the audience is educators, not just anyone who wants to know more about Disability identity. I would have read it very differently if I'd realized that earlier.

[Sarah Cavar · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book that was published the year I was born, this holds up REMARKABLY well. I say that both in praise of Linton's prescience and uncompromising politic, and as an indictment of a world whose ableism hasn't lessened, only changed shape.

I'd like to see Claiming Disability get a new edition, maybe a 30th anniversary one in 2028? Especially with reflections and updates on Linton's suggestions for accessible curricula and the integration, not co-optation, of disability studies by the university as corporation. Unfortunately, it seems that much of what she and others feared in the 90s has come to pass, and then some.

Verdict: Somehow still relevant and worth reading almost 30 years later, but only in concert with contemporary disability theory. A notable omission, for example, is explicit engagement with multiply-margnalized perspectives on disability, as well as discussion of Madness/mental disability beyond very basics.

[Casey Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Claiming Disability, Simi Linton expounds the Disability Studies field. She encapsulates its lens here: "A social, political and cultural analyses undertaken by Disability Studies form a prism through which one can gain a broader understanding of society and human experience and the significance of human variation... [adding] a critical dimension to thinking about issues such as autonomy, competence, wholeness, independence/dependence, health, community...and notions of progress."

For being less than 200 pages, this book is thick with material. I'll note only a couple pieces of interest:

In a section termed 'Divided Curriculum,' Simi delves into research disparities that have attributed to society's collective misunderstanding of disability throughout history and its present influence. One example she cites is that humanities and social sciences research has consistently lacked inclusion of the disability population. One reason is because disability is studied mainly in particularity. Meaning, disabled subjects are really only sought for disabled topics. And so, because this population's insight is not seen as generalizable to the overall human experience, decades of understanding are the result of skewed-representation.

In another section called 'Reassigning Meaning,' Linton proposes reconsideration for commonly-used phrases. She explains the example 'to overcome a disability:' "If we, as a society, place the onus on individuals with disabilities to work harder to compensate for their disabilities or to overcome their condition or the barriers in the environment, we have no need for civil rights legislation or affirmative action." Although health is a maintained focus in disability rights, she states that the expectation of disabled people to give effort beyond what is reasonable is what illuminates the gap in disability accessibility.

Linton is a vigilant student of Disability Studies. Through Claiming Disability, she crafts new narratives and assessment to bring change where it is most needed in the field.

[Linda Dezenski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I recommend it if you are interested in learning more about how to claim a disability identity. It sharpened my understanding of the field of disability studies.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read so many academic pieces that use Linton's work, it was deeply inspiring to finally read it myself.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though one review described the book as dated, the sad thing is that in most higher education Disabilities Studies in the actual humanities courses has not advance much beyond what Linton tried to lay down a decade later. This was a real pioneering effort. It is a critical book interested for anyone going into teaching of literature at even a high school level. Linton didn't intend did make this a beach book, so it can't be faulted too much for that. The primary users are probably going be those who are actually shaping education. Still the 4/5 rather than 5/5 is because it does build a bit of an academic all against the more casual user.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone interested in culture studies might be interested in this one. I read it for a class I took on disability and visual display. It was interesting to think about the different aspects of disability and its history of use in art, which has been QUITE extensive.

[theri · Rating 5 out of 5]

She lays it all out for us. The penultimate chapter hits you hard. Real hard.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

great text about how the academy helps maintain and perpetuate discrimination against the disabled

[Rachel Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Required to read for class but it was pretty interesting. Made some good points about what disability is and what it is not.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for class. It was interesting but a long read.

[Frances]

I read Chapter 1: Reclamation (pages 1 - 32)