Inequality Made Flesh: Disability and the Political Economy of the Body

摘要

By pulling together potentially disparate social theories, it is possible to extend our understanding of the body and disability in the social world. The body is intimately tied to processes of material and cultural production and consumption. This article contextualizes disability by placing it within this theoretical understanding of the body and these processes. The body is created through classed processes involving its relationship to the circulation and accumulation of capital. These classed bodies are accorded physical capital, solidifying their position within the production and consumption systems. Power, being unevenly distributed, plays an important role in how bodies are defined and categorized, as well as how they are disciplined. This article introduces new concepts associated with corporeality, including: corporeal power; productive and consumptive power; and producer/consumer/consumed/disposable bodies.?