This book comprises a collection of groundbreaking writings by Marta Russell on the nature of disability and oppression under capitalism.
Spread out over many years and many different publications, the late author and activist Marta Russell wrote a number of groundbreaking and insightful essays on the nature of disability and oppression under capitalism. In this volume, Russell’s various essays are brought together in one place in order to provide a useful and expansive resource to those interested in better understanding the ways in which the modern phenomenon of disability is shaped by capitalist economic and social relations. The essays range in analysis from the theoretical to the topical, including but not limited to: the emergence of disability as a “human category” rooted in the rise of industrial capitalism and the transformation of the conditions of work, family, and society corresponding thereto; a critique of the shortcomings of a purely “civil …
This book comprises a collection of groundbreaking writings by Marta Russell on the nature of disability and oppression under capitalism.
Spread out over many years and many different publications, the late author and activist Marta Russell wrote a number of groundbreaking and insightful essays on the nature of disability and oppression under capitalism. In this volume, Russell’s various essays are brought together in one place in order to provide a useful and expansive resource to those interested in better understanding the ways in which the modern phenomenon of disability is shaped by capitalist economic and social relations. The essays range in analysis from the theoretical to the topical, including but not limited to: the emergence of disability as a “human category” rooted in the rise of industrial capitalism and the transformation of the conditions of work, family, and society corresponding thereto; a critique of the shortcomings of a purely “civil rights approach” to addressing the persistence of disability oppression in the economic sphere, with a particular focus on the legacy of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; an examination of the changing position of disabled people within the overall system of capitalist production utilizing the Marxist economic concepts of the reserve army of the unemployed, the labor theory of value, and the exploitation of wage-labor; the effects of neoliberal capitalist policies on the living conditions and social position of disabled people as it pertains to welfare, income assistance, health care, and other social security programs; imperialism and war as a factor in the further oppression and immiseration of disabled people within the United States and globally; and the need to build unity against the divisive tendencies which hide the common economic interest shared between disabled people and the often highly-exploited direct care workers who provide services to the former.
This is a 20+ Year Old Book and the Figures STILL work
5 stars
Content warning
CW: Poverty, Eugenics, Death
This is an edited collection of Marta Russell's writings (edited by Keith Rosenthal). These are from the Clinton and W Bush eras, and the figures STILL work or are WORSE now, which is despair-inducing.
There's chapters about Assisted Suicide towards the end of the book that explains the problem with seeing this as a solution (that it's entirely founded on Eugenics and cost-cutting measures).
This is a DOWNER of a book, for obvious reasons. Probably take it a bit slowly, but DO read it.
It's simply a collection of essays by Marta Russell, but they are all amazing. Despite being out of date in terms of numbers, the concepts are still very well alive because we are still arguing about the rights of disabled people in a society where some governments are decreasing access to healthcare while places like the US continually put forward politicians that refuse to acknowledge a universal healthcare option is possible.
