Out of the frame: disability and the body in the writings of Karl Marx

Staffan Bengtsson

doi:10.1080/15017419.2016.1263972

Out of the frame: disability and the body in the writings of Karl Marx

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

Volume 19 (2017): Issue 2

By: Staffan Bengtsson

Open Access

|Dec 2017

Abstract

How disability as a phenomenon is to be understood has been widely discussed within the field of disability research. Influenced by a Marxist perspective, the social model has reinforced the view that disability results from the organization of society rather than from individual premises. This article elaborates on these issues by exploring the writings of Karl Marx and his views concerning disability. The analysis pinpoints bodily normality in Marx’s reasoning and how the economic system shapes the premises for participation and roles, but also how people with disabilities were left out of the progressive call for social change.

References

Abberley, P. 1996. “Work, Utopia and Impairment.” In Disability & Society: Emerging Issues and Insights, edited by Len Barton, 61–79. New York: Longman.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Abberley, P. 1997. “The Limits of Classical Social Theory in the Analysis and Transformation of Disablement – (Can This Really be the End; to be Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again?).” In Disability Studies: Past, Present and Future, edited by Len Barton, and Mike Oliver, 25–44. Leeds: Disability Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Armer, B. 2004. “In Search of a Social Model of Disability: Marxism, Normality and Culture.” In Implementing the Social Model of Disability: Theory and Research, edited by Colin Barnes, and Geof Mercer, 48–64. Leeds: Disability Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Barnes, C. 1996. “Theories of Disability and the Origins of the Oppression of Disabled People in Western Society.” In Disability & Society: Emerging Issues and Insights, edited by Len Barton, 43–60. New York: Longman.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Barnes, C., and G. Mercer. 2004. “Theorising and Researching Disability from a Social Model Perspective.” In Implementing the Social Model of Disability: Theory and Research, edited by Colin Barnes, and Geof Mercer, 1–17. Leeds: Disability Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Barnes, C., M. Oliver, and L. Barton. 2002. “Introduction.” In Disability Studies Today, edited by Colin Barnes, Mike Oliver, and Len Barton, 1–17. Cambridge: Polity Press in Association with Blackwell.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Benton, T. 1999. “Marxism and Natural Limits: An Ecological Critique and Reconstruction.” In Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought: Critical Assessments. Vol. VIII, Nature, Culture, Morals, Ethics, edited by Bob Jessop, and Russell Wheatley, 70–107. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bhaskar, R., and B. Danermark. 2006. “Metatheory, Interdisciplinarity and Disability Research: A Critical Realist Perspective.” Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research 8 (4): 278–297. doi: 10.1080/15017410600914329
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Brown, A., S. Fleetwood, and J. M. Roberts. 2002. “The Marriage of Critical Realism and Marxism: Happy, Unhappy or on the Rocks?” In Critical Realism and Marxism, edited by Andrew Brown, Steve Fleetwood, and John Michael Roberts, 1–22. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Coburn, D. 2015. “Vicente Navarro: Marxism, Medical Dominance, Healthcare and Health.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine, edited by Fran Collyer, 405–423. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Collyer, F. 2015. “Karl Marx and Frederich Engels: Capitalism, Health and the Healthcare Industry.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine, edited by Fran Collyer, 35–58. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Collyer, F., and G. Scambler. 2015. “The Sociology of Health, Illness and Medicine: Institutional Progress and Theoretical Frameworks.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Social Theory in Health, Illness and Medicine, edited by Fran Collyer, 1–34. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Finkelstein, V. 1991. “Disability: An Administrative Challenge? (The Health and Welfare Heritage).” In Social Work: Disabled People and Disabling Environments, edited by Michael Oliver, 19–39. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Finkelstein, V. 2001. The Social Model of Disability Repossessed. Manchester Coalition of Disabled People. http://disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk/files/library/finkelstein-soc-mod-repossessed.pdf.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Foucault, M. 2006. History of Madness. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Goodley, D. 2014. Dis/Ability Studies: Theorising Disablism and Ableism. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Goodley, D., B. Hughes, and L. Davis. 2012. “Introducing Disability and Social Theory.” In Disability and Social Theory: New Developments and Directions, edited by Dan Goodley, Bill Hughes, and Lennard Davis, 1–14. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gustavsson, A. 2004. “The Role of Theory in Disability Research – Springboard or Strait-Jacket?” Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research 6 (1): 55–70. doi: 10.1080/15017410409512639
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hahn, H. 2002. “Academic Debates and Political Advocacy: The US Disability Movement.” In Disability Studies Today, edited by Colin Barnes, Mike Oliver, and Len Barton, 162–189. Cambridge: Polity Press in Association with Blackwell.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Harvey, D. 2000. Spaces of Hope. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Harvey, D. 2010. A Companion to Marx’s Capital. London: Verso.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hughes, B. 2002. “Disability and the Body.” In Disability Studies Today, edited by Colin Barnes, Mike Oliver, and Len Barton, 58–76. Cambridge: Polity Press in Association with Blackwell.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jessop, B. 2002. “Capitalism, the Regulation Approach, and Critical Realism.” In Critical Realism and Marxism, edited by Andrew Brown, Steve Fleetwood, and John Michael Roberts, 88–115. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jessop, B., and R. Wheatley. 1999. “Introduction to Volume VIII.” In Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought: Critical Assessments. Vol. VIII, Nature, Culture, Morals, Ethics, edited by Bob Jessop, and Russell Wheatley, vii–xxviii. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kovel, J. 1999. “The Marxist View of Man and Psychoanalysis.” In Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought: Critical Assessments. Vol. VIII, Nature, Culture, Morals, Ethics, edited by Bob Jessop, and Russell Wheatley, 192–209. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lee, D. C. 1999. “On the Marxian View of the Relationship Between Man and Nature.” In Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought: Critical Assessments. Vol. VIII, Nature, Culture, Morals, Ethics, edited by Bob Jessop, and Russell Wheatley, 1–15. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Marx, K. 1991. Capital: Volume 3. A Critique of Political Economy. London: Penguin.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Marx, K. 2013. Capital: Volume One and Two: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production. Ware: Wordsworth Editions Ltd.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Morawski, S. 1990. “The Aesthetic View of Marx and Engels.” In Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought: Critical Assessments. Vol. IV, Civil Society, Ideology, Morals, and Ethics, edited by Bob Jessop, and Charlie Malcolm-Brown, 329–347. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Nasser, A. G. 1990. “Marx’s Ethical Anthropology.” In Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought: Critical Assessments. Vol. IV, Civil Society, Ideology, Morals, and Ethics, edited by Bob Jessop, and Charlie Malcolm-Brown, 374–389. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Oliver, M. 1996. “A Sociology of Disability or a Disablist Sociology?” In Disability & Society: Emerging Issues and Insights, edited by Len Barton, 18–42. New York: Longman.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Oliver, M. 2009. Understanding Disability: From Theory to Practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Padgett, D. K. 2008. Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rader, M. 1990. “Marx’s Interpretation of Art and Aesthetic Value.” In Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought: Critical Assessments. Vol. IV, Civil Society, Ideology, Morals, and Ethics, edited by Bob Jessop, and Charlie Malcolm-Brown, 316–328. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Shakespeare, T. 2006. Disability Rights and Wrongs. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Soper, K. 1981. On Human Needs: Open and Closed Theories in a Marxist Perspective. Brighton: Harvester Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Stiker, H.-J. 2006. A History of Disability. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Swain, J., S. French, and C. Cameron. 2003. Controversial Issues in a Disabling Society. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Thomas, C. 2002. “Disability Theory: Key Ideas, Issues and Thinkers.” In Disability Studies Today, edited by Colin Barnes, Mike Oliver, and Len Barton, 38–57. Cambridge: Polity Press in Association with Blackwell.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Thomas, C. 2004. “Developing the Social Relational in the Social Model of Disability: A Theoretical Agenda.” In Implementing the Social Model of Disability: Theory and Research, edited by Colin Barnes, and Geof Mercer, 32–47. Leeds: Disability Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Traustadóttir, R., and K. Kristiansen. 2004. “Introducing Gender and Disability.” In Gender and Disability Research in the Nordic Countries, edited by Kristjana Kristiansen, and Rannveig Traustadóttir, 31–48. Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Vernon, A., and J. Swain. 2002. “Theorizing Divisions and Hierarchies: Towards a Commonality or Diversity?” In Disability Studies Today, edited by Colin Barnes, Mike Oliver, and Len Barton, 77–97. Cambridge: Polity Press in Association with Blackwell.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wood, A. W. 1990. “The Marxian Critique of Justice.” In Karl Marx’s Social and Political Thought: Critical Assessments. Vol. IV, Civil Society, Ideology, Morals, and Ethics, edited by Bob Jessop, and Charlie Malcolm-Brown, 390–421. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Worsley, P. 2002. Marx and Marxism. London: Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article