Exploring normativity in disability studies. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vehmas, Simo; Watson, Nick
• Is Part Of: Disability & society. Volume 31:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 16
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Ethics -- moral responsibility -- moral status -- posthumanism; People with disabilities -- Periodicals; People with disabilities -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; Special education -- Periodicals; Rehabilitation -- Periodicals; 362.4
• DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2015.1120657
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0968-7599

Abstract

Abstract: Normativity is a concept that is often misapplied in disability studies, especially in 'postconventional' accounts, where the concept is conflated with 'normal', 'normate', or 'standard'. This article addresses this confusion, explores the meaning and use of 'normativity', and presents some analytic tools to discuss normative issues of right and wrong. The article finishes by discussing examples where conceptual confusions result in confused normative judgments focusing in particular on agency, responsibility and moral status. The article argues that disability research should carefully consider the use of theories and empirical knowledge in the light of their ethical implications as well as the lived experiences of disability.