The Social Model of Disability and the Disappearing Body: Towards a sociology of impairment

TLDR

The body is central to contemporary political and theoretical debate, yet the social model of disability marginalizes it. The paper seeks to construct a sociology of impairment by reimagining the body as an emancipatory concept and exploring contributions from post‑structuralism and phenomenology. It employs post‑structuralist and phenomenological perspectives to analyze the body’s role in disability studies. The authors argue that realigning the disability/impairment distinction is essential for the disability movement’s identity politics.

Abstract

What is the case for and how would one begin to construct a sociology of impairment? This paper argues that the realignment of the disability/impairment distinction is vital for the identity politics of the disability movement. The body is at the heart of contemporary political and theoretical debate, yet the social model of disability makes it an exile. The transformation of the body from a reactionary to an emancipatory concept implies a sociology of impairment. This paper explores the contribution that post-structuralism and phenomenology might make to this end.