Societies· 2026Q2
Reconstructing the Historical-Materialist Tradition in Disability Studies
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- Q2SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
This article argues for reconstructing historical materialism within Critical Disability Studies, situating disablement in world-system stratification and material relations of production/reproduction, rather than abandoning it.
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Key points
- Disability should be understood within social relations, not individual pathology.
- Historical materialism can be reconstructed, not abandoned, in Disability Studies.
- Disablement is linked to world-system stratification and material relations of production/reproduction.
- Institutions are key mechanisms organizing structural relations of disablement.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
The historical-materialist tradition transformed Disability Studies by locating disability within social relations rather than individual pathology. Subsequent developments in Critical Disability Studies have expanded this analysis through greater attention to embodiment, intersecting inequalities, colonialism, and global difference, while also exposing limitations in earlier materialist formulations. This article argues that these developments provide grounds not for abandoning historical materialism but for reconstructing it. The analysis situates disablement within world-system stratification, hierarchies of humanity, and material relations of production and social reproduction, while examining institutions as mechanisms through which these structural relations are organised in everyday life. The resulting framework seeks to renew historical-materialist analysis within contemporary Critical Disability Studies.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Societies, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Safety Research
Safety ResearchSocial Sciences