Feminist Disability Studies [Paperback]

Disability, like questions of race, gender, and class, is one of the most provocative topics among theorists and philosophers today. This volume, situated at the intersection of feminist theory and disability studies, addresses questions about the nature of embodiment, the meaning of disability, the impact of public policy on those who have been labeled disabled, and how we define the norms of mental and physical ability. The essays here bridge the gap between theory and activism by illuminating structures of power and showing how historical and cultural perceptions of the human body have been informed by and contributed to the oppression of women and disabled people.

Each of the essays in this collection offers a valuable contribution in its own right. Read together, they make a strong case for the value, indeed necessity, of including disability perspectives in future feminist scholarship.Feminist Disability Studies is a particularly solid collection due to the wealth of cross-genre essays and contributions housed within its pages, and its contributors draw from womens studies, literary and cultural studies, ethnic studies, philosophy, and many other disciplines.A volume of the highest scholarly quality that extends both feminist theory and disability studies.Puts feminist theory and disability studies into conversation with one another, not simply to make for an 'additive' approach, but to transform both fields of inquiry.

Kim Q. Hall is Professor of Philosophy and a faculty member in the Women's Studies and Sustainable Development programs at Appalachian State University. She is editor (with Chris Cuomo) of Whiteness: Feminist Philosophical Reflections.

Hall's . . . collection is a fascinating and valuable contribution to our thinking, and comes at a crucial point in the consolidation of feminist bioethics' engagement with disability.Feminist disability Studies . . . should be required reading in any course that deals with [femiminsm and disability].lC”