Disability and Politics: Rethinking Representation

This research develops theoretical and empirical approaches to political representation. First, the research adopts the social model of disability, a theoretical framework which focuses on how society disables people; here disability is understood as an oppressive social construct rather than a set of individual impairments. Bringing a disability lens to the study of the conceptual dimensions of political representation will help identify and interrogate epistemological ableism, the idealisation of able-bodiedness/able-mindedness. Second, the research will provide a case study analysis of a unique set of qualitative interviews I have undertaken with UK-based disabled activists and politicians, conducted as part of a commissioned Government-funded project into the barriers to elected office for disabled people. This empirical analysis will examine the impact of disabled politicians and question how disabled people’s interests and issues are framed; drawing upon disability studies scholarship will help reveal patterns of disablism, the practice of excluding or marginalising people based upon their impairments.