Foucault And The Government Of Disability

Foucault and the Government of Disability is the first book-length investigation of the relevance and importance of the ideas of Michel Foucault to the field of disability studies-and vice versa. Over the last thirty years, politicized conceptions of disability have precipitated significant social change, including the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, the redesign of urban landscapes, the appearance of closed-captioning on televisions, and the growing recognition that disabled people constitute a marginalized and disenfranchised constituency.

The provocative essays in this volume respond to Foucault’s call to question what is regarded as natural, inevitable, ethical, and liberating, while they challenge established understandings of Foucault’s analyses and offer fresh approaches to his work. The book’s roster of distinguished international contributors represents a broad range of disciplines and perspectives, making this a timely and necessary addition to the burgeoning field of disability studies.

“A serious step forward not only for disability studies but for the range of theoretical positions associated with Foucault. Foucault and the Government of Disability will provide for years to come a basis for rethinking Foucault’s impact on social theory as well as a foundation for active political struggle against the oppression of people with disabilities.”
— Tobin Siebers, University of Michigan

“Testimony to the enduring power of Foucault’s work to stimulate new ways of thinking about and resisting the pernicious effects of normalization within modern societies… Critically engaging Foucault as well as received interpretations of his work, this collection is intended for readers of Foucault as well as critical disability theorists. It delivers on its promise to stimulate us to think differently about both disability and Foucault.”
— Jana Sawicki, Williams College

Shelley Tremain teaches in the Philosophy Department of the University of Toronto at Mississauga.