Struggles online over the meaning of 'disability' A 'dialogic' interpretation

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Struggles online over the meaning of
'disability'A 'dialogic' interpretation

• nicholascimini_at_gmail.com
• Disability Studies Conference Lancaster
  University
• 3rd September 2008

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Paper outline

• Dialogue online the 'punk ethic'
• The Bakhtin Circle
• Representations of Down's syndrome
• Summary

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The 'punk ethic' onlineThese websites reflect
refract a 'multiplicity of consciousnesses' and -
in the process they subvert tradition forms of
knowledge construction
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The Bakhtin Circle

• 'Countless ideological threads running through
  all areas of social intercourse register effect
  in the word. It stands to reason then, that the
  word is the most sensitive index of social
  changes ... The word has the capacity to register
  all the transitory, delicate, momentary phases of
  social change'. Voloshinov (1973, p.19, italics
  added)

'Utterances and their types, that is, speech
genres, are the drive belts from the history of
society to the history of language Bakhtin
(1981, p.65)?
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Definitional issues on Wikipedia

• 'Down syndrome (or Down's syndrome in British
  English) is a chromosomal disorder caused by the
  presence of all or part of an extra 21st
  chromosome'
• (Current revision - as of 10.38, 12th August
  2008)?
• 'Down syndrome sic is a naturally occurring
  chromosomal arrangement'
• (1809, 10th January 2006)?
• 'Down syndrome is a genetic condition resulting
  from the presence of all or part of an extra 21st
  chromosome'
• (0614, 2nd December 2006)?

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Subverting 'clinical' expertise

• Children with Down syndrome sic are at an
  immediate disadvantage compared with children who
  do not have Down syndrome.

• Many of the common physical features of Down
  syndrome also appear in people with a standard
  set of chromosomes

• Revision initiated on 2225, 1st September 2005
  (italics added), wording still used

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Images captions

• I wish my Daddy drilled me this hard (1617, 18th
  July 2006)?
• Retard drilling holes (Revision as of 1755, 11st
  November 2006)?
• A rare case of caucasion down syndrome (250, 8th
  February 2008)?
• I'm not saying the picture on the article is
  wrong, I just think maybe it should be more
  front-on, as it were, showing the facial
  differences of a Down's person (User Selphie 10th
  Dec 2004)?

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Dialogue, resistance change

• I think the photo is great and very much adds to
  the article. It shows the distinct facial
  features and the short stubby fingers, but in a
  dynamic shot (also illustrating the capacity to
  develop interests and skills) rather than a "here
  is a pathology specimen" shot. Which is as it
  should be, since people with DS are people, not
  pathology specimens. In other words the photo
  shows the stigmata without stigmatizing.
• Anon (12th May 2008) italics added
• Glad my sons photograph (prominent top right) has
  survived many attacks over the years by both
  vandals and the snooty brigade - my sons picture
  wielding an electric screwdriver says a thousand
  positive things that the article doesn't about
  having Down's syndrome - and it has now been
  there so long that nobody dares to delete it, its
  sacrosanct.
• Excalibur (e-interview 2007)?

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Summary

• Struggles over the meaning of disability can be
  considered a virtual echo or 'index' of struggles
  being fought in the real world.
• We cannot 'click to victory' in these struggles.
• Revised and supplemented, Bakhtin's notion of
  dialogism provides powerful tools - focusing our
  attention on a 'multiplicity of consciousnesses',
  the processes of interaction between social
  voices, and the often exclusionary methods by
  which one voice gains closure over others as
  well as, crucially,the two-way processes of
  dialogue and resistance to closure.
• Out of the many competing perspectives on Down's
  syndrome, there is the potential for meaningful
  agreement.