Disabling ideal theory. (14th March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Knight, Amber
• Is Part Of: Politics, groups, and identities. Volume 8:Number 2(2020)
• Page Start: 373
• Page End: 389
• Publication Date: 2020-03-14
• Subjects: Disability -- ideal theory -- feminism -- Rawls -- Dworkin; Identity (Psychology) -- Periodicals; Political psychology -- Periodicals; Sex -- Periodicals; Ethnicity -- Periodicals; Ethnicity; Identity (Psychology); Political psychology; Sex; Periodicals; 320
• DOI: 10.1080/21565503.2018.1472020
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2156-5503

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article offers a critique of ideal theory from the perspective of disability. Specifically, I make the case that John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin's idealized writings on disability incorporate ableist assumptions into their abstract thought experiments. In turn, their theoretical frameworks do not adequately identify and analyze the causes of disability-related injustices, nor do they offer sufficient guidance for addressing urgent problems facing people with disabilities today. As an alternative to abstraction, this analysis suggests that normative theory has to confront the contextualized historical processes that have propagated injustices between members of oppressed and privileged groups. Building off of the feminist literature on standpoint epistemology, I emphasize the methodological importance of practicing epistemic humility, critically listening to the ways in which oppressed groups portray their own circumstances and political claims, and integrating empirical research into normative theory.