Private Tragedy in Social Context? Reflections on Disability, Illness and Suffering

This article reviews aspects of the debate about the contested divide between disability and illness. It considers this divide in the context of three main themes: political efficacy; contradictions between the project of accommodation and that of cure; and Western cultural concerns with bodily cont...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Disability & society 2002-05, Vol.17 (3), p.255-267
Main Author: de Wolfe, Patricia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chronic Illness
Chronically
Disability
Disability rights movements
Disabled people
Disabled persons
Discrimination
Handicapped
Health
Illness
Life Satisfaction
Self Actualization
Sick people
Social Closure
Social exclusion
Social policy
Stigma
Suffering
Tragedy
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Summary:This article reviews aspects of the debate about the contested divide between disability and illness. It considers this divide in the context of three main themes: political efficacy; contradictions between the project of accommodation and that of cure; and Western cultural concerns with bodily control. It suggests that attempts to specify a distinction between disability and illness simply shift the boundaries of social and conceptual exclusion. Chronically sick people remain stigmatised, with their strengths unrecognised and measures to improve their lives unformulated. While acknowledging the serious difficulties involved, the article argues for a more inclusive and diverse movement, which can encompass those whose suffering is resistant to social accommodation.
ISSN:0968-7599
1360-0508
DOI:10.1080/09687590220139847