Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Start Date

5-7-2014 1:00 PM

End Date

5-7-2014 2:30 PM

Subjects

Disability studies -- Social aspects, Queer theory, Women's studies, Mental illness -- Social aspects, Feminist theory -- Application to disability studies

Abstract

Objectives: Mad theory is in the early stages of development. This paper draws on disability studies and feminist thought in theorizing models of madness.

Methods: This paper explores the available literature in order to explore the contribution of feminism to mad theory.

Results: Disability studies have challenged hegemonic concepts of normality and the definition of disability as individual deficit. Disability becomes framed as a social construction involving power relations. Feminist perspectives on disability honor lived experience and human variation. In feminist thought, different ways of being are valued and people are recognized as equal in terms of human rights. Citizenship is relational and identity is fluid and involves multiple subjectivities. Feminism recognizes the embodied nature of human experience and understands personal narratives in a political, collective context. Feminist intersectionality allows exploration of how systems of oppression interlock. The differences and inequalities among the mad should be recognized in theory development.

Conclusions: Mad studies must be developed to address the prevailing narratives of essential inferiority that obscure the gifts of human diversity. Such narratives act to limit the mad imagination and obstruct the creation of enabling social environments. Grounded in the perspectives of mad people and cultures, theory and knowledge production would facilitate the incorporation of lived experiences and the meaning individuals make of madness.

Significance: Mad consciousness and theory must be developed in order to challenge social exclusion and oppression. The lived experience of madness can be an illuminating and driving force for the future of mad studies.

Rights

© Copyright the author(s)

IN COPYRIGHT:
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DISCLAIMER:
The purpose of this statement is to help the public understand how this Item may be used. When there is a (non-standard) License or contract that governs re-use of the associated Item, this statement only summarizes the effects of some of its terms. It is not a License, and should not be used to license your Work. To license your own Work, use a License offered at https://creativecommons.org/

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/11363

Share

COinS
 
May 7th, 1:00 PM May 7th, 2:30 PM

A Habitable Madness: Inclusion of Feminist Thought in the Development of Mad Theory

Objectives: Mad theory is in the early stages of development. This paper draws on disability studies and feminist thought in theorizing models of madness.

Methods: This paper explores the available literature in order to explore the contribution of feminism to mad theory.

Results: Disability studies have challenged hegemonic concepts of normality and the definition of disability as individual deficit. Disability becomes framed as a social construction involving power relations. Feminist perspectives on disability honor lived experience and human variation. In feminist thought, different ways of being are valued and people are recognized as equal in terms of human rights. Citizenship is relational and identity is fluid and involves multiple subjectivities. Feminism recognizes the embodied nature of human experience and understands personal narratives in a political, collective context. Feminist intersectionality allows exploration of how systems of oppression interlock. The differences and inequalities among the mad should be recognized in theory development.

Conclusions: Mad studies must be developed to address the prevailing narratives of essential inferiority that obscure the gifts of human diversity. Such narratives act to limit the mad imagination and obstruct the creation of enabling social environments. Grounded in the perspectives of mad people and cultures, theory and knowledge production would facilitate the incorporation of lived experiences and the meaning individuals make of madness.

Significance: Mad consciousness and theory must be developed in order to challenge social exclusion and oppression. The lived experience of madness can be an illuminating and driving force for the future of mad studies.