'Emancipating Disability Studies' - Vic Finkelstein

We now have three boundaries demarcating discrete fields for the separation of libraries of information abou the separation of libraries of information abou tthe nature of disability. In my view these are:

a) A primary knowledge boundary dividing comprehension of the 'normal' (i.e. able-bodied lifestyles) from the special disability services (their needs, goals, ways of being cared for, etc.- i.e. the disabled career).

On the 'disabled' side of this fence two additional boundaries have further dismantled our integrity so that the development of knowledge can always be located in an either/or dilemma between two fields:

b) The search for a 'cure'- the health field
c) The provision of 'care'- the welfare field

It seems to me that, until the emergence of 'disability studies' in the late 1970s, knowledge about disabled life was incarcerated in an isolated field. Disability studies (the study of disabled people's lifestyles and aspirations) clearly could not emerge within the bounds of any discipline that had percolated out of 'normal' academic studies, simply because we had been removed from this arena and all analysis allocated to the disability experts in 'cure or care' (health and welfare) disciplines. (1998, 32-33)