CFP: Special Issue of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies

[Jay Dolmage]

"From Each According to Ability"? Capitalism, Poverty, and Disability 

Karl Marx (1875/1978) described the political economy of a just
society as one organized around the ethos “from each according to ability; to
each according to need!” (p. 531). The reality for people with disabilities,
however, is persistent and disproportionate rates of poverty and unemployment
worldwide (World Health Organization, 2011). How well do we understand the
reasons for this? And more importantly, what can be done about it? Has
disability studies produced an adequate theorization of the political economy
of disability? 

The Canadian Journal of Disability Studies invites contributions to
specifically explore these questions, using a definition of “political economy”
as “the study of the social relations, particularly the power relations that
mutually constitute the production, distribution, and consumption of resources”
(Mosco, 1996, p. 25).

The influential social model could be seen to situate current
definitions and experiences of disability within capitalism (Oliver, 1999), and
to identify “institutional discrimination” as the source of social inequality
(Barnes, 1991). The theory and praxis of disability politics focuses on challenging
the medicalization of disability, exploring and developing a positive
disability identity and pride, opposing the demeaning practices and policies of
welfare states, promoting disabled-led organizations and direct payments for
services, advancing disability arts and culture, and most significantly pushing
for anti-discrimination legislation and the implementation of human rights for
persons with disabilities. Do these political responses follow from the
original theoretical contention that the contemporary social construct of
disability is rooted in capitalism? 

More recently the social model has called for “a radical
re-appraisal of the meaning of work for disabled people that goes beyond the
rigid confines of paid employment…” and which organizes work around social
necessity, obligation, and interdependence (Barnes & Roulstone, 2005).
Furthermore, between the need for professional services and the development of
self-directed attendant services, people with disabilities should be recognized
as both creators and managers of employment (Barnes, 2003). Russell (1998),
however, points out the dangers of this “commodification” of disability, in
which people with disabilities are seen as a lucrative source of money for
medical and institutional organizations. Albrecht (1992) also raises concerns
about the implications of “the disability business”. 

And what of those people with disabilities who are genuinely unable
to work because the nature of their disabilities, rather than the lack of
opportunity? Taylor (2004) argues for the “right not to work” and in favour of
“cultivating a skeptical attitude regarding the significance of work”—at least
as it constructed in a capitalist economy. How do we situate this argument in a
political economy of disability?

We welcome article submissions on these and related questions. Other possible
topics include, but are not limited to

Strategies to address
capitalism’s recurring crises as they relate to disability

Theories, practices, and crises of the welfare
state and disability
     
The intersections of human rights theory and
practice and political economic theory and practice 
     
Intersections and conflicts between feminism, race
theory, queer theory, and crip theory and political economy approaches to
understanding and theorizing disability
     
Marxism, neoliberalism, and other economic theories
and disability
     
Notions of cross-disability solidarity versus class
solidarity
     
The business(es) of disability such as vocational
and medical rehabilitation, pharmaceutical and biotechnological interventions,
personal support workers and "care" industries, new paradigms of
disability employment, etc.
     
Political economy issues of disability in
developing countries and across global contexts
     
Issues of identity and inclusion/exclusion within a
capitalist political economy

 The deadline for submissions is April
1, 2014. All manuscripts must be submitted electronically, in Microsoft
Word format, directly via email to this issue’s guest editor Bonita Heath at bheath at yorku.ca.

Manuscript submissions must be no more than 6,000 words, excluding
references, notes, and tables. Submissions should have no more than 40
references.  Keep tables, figures — including graphs, charts, diagrams — 
and other images to a minimum (no more
than 10); all such material must be accompanied by a brief narrative
description to ensure accessibility.

For further information please see “Author Guidelines” at http://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/about/submissions


Jay Dolmage, Ph.D
Editor, Canadian Journal of Disability Studies
Associate Professor of English
University of Waterloo
Department of English
Hagey Hall of Humanities Building
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Tel: 519 888 4567 x31035
Fax: 519 746 5788
dolmage at uwaterloo.ca
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