Disabled people and subjugated knowledges: new understandings and strategies developed by people living with chronic conditions

Abstract

This article provides a contribution to our understanding of
\nthe knowledges and strategies developed by people living
\nwith chronic illnesses, based on an empirical study with
\nthis population in England and Portugal. The article begins
\nby mapping out the debates in disability studies which
\nhave focused on embodiment. It continues by arguing that
\ndisabled people constantly have to negotiate codes about
\nthe body based on normative notions of the body, which I
\nterm normative corporality. The main themes arising from
\nparticipants’ accounts are then identified and discussed.
\nThe article ends by arguing that the knowledges and strategies
\ndeveloped by disabled people are often not noticed
\nor are devalued as we tend to value knowledges of the
\nbody that come from established systems of knowledge, or
\nfrom bodies our society deem normative. Thus, disabled
\npeople’s knowledges can be conceptualized as subjugated
\nknowledges.