ablenationalism

— The historical development of ablenationalism results in the modern formation of disability as a discrete, sociological minority. In order to locate people with disabilities under market capitalism one must often look beyond the margins of surplus labor to those classified as “deserving poor” by national regimes. In emphasizing severity of incapacity as primary to a devalued identity, discourses of policy, economics, health, rehabilitation, and citizenship support practices of charity as voluntary instances of conspicuous contributions to sustain them and the bureaucratic provision of supports and services. Whether nation-state or market-supplied, ablenationalism’s calculated provision (and non-provision) of services based on principles of detecting and qualifying bodies as “too impaired” for meaningful labor underscores the degree to which the category of “deserving poor” is a highly guarded space of ostracization.