A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of - Etheses - Queen Margaret ...

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mind, but to the society in which they live. By combining with others who share this
belief, their own self-image is reinforced, and they can achieve solidarity and self-
respect (Shakespeare, 2006:80).
Shakespeare argues that the identity politics of the disabled people‟s movement has
depended on strengthening the emphasis upon differences between disabled and non-
disabled people, strengthening the coherence and separateness of the disability group, and
contrasting disabled and non-disabled people in a way that views the latter group as
oppressive and hostile. Disability identity, he contends, rather than being a means to an end,
has become an end in itself. It involves an inward-looking group approach rather than an
approach which seeks to build bridges with other groups and to achieve real inclusion for
disabled people within society (Shakespeare, 2006:80).
At the same time, Shakespeare writes approvingly of people with impairments who disavow
identification as disabled. Citing research carried out by Nick Watson with twenty-eight
disabled people in Scotland, he points out that
Despite daily experiences of oppressive practices, only three of the participants
incorporated disability within their identity. Instead, they normalised their
experience of physical limitation. They were all able to describe experiences of
discrimination. But they rejected a political identity as disabled (Shakespeare,
2006:74).
Shakespeare highlights the wish of Watson‟s research participants to assimilate with the
mainstream and negate a demeaning difference. Many people, he argues,
do not want to see themselves as disabled, either in terms of the medical model or
the social model. They downplay the significance of their impairments... They see
themselves as „really normal‟, refusing to allow disability to dominate their lives
(Shakespeare, 2006:74).
While acknowledging the individualism inherent in this approach, and the fact that it may
overlook the problems of discrimination and prejudice, this is presented as „surely a
legitimate alternative to a minority group approach‟ (Shakespeare, 2006:74).
In the context of my thesis and of my own experience described above, I find Shakespeare‟s
argument unconvincing. The position of the disabled people he refers to sounds similar to the
position I held between my road accident in 1974 and coming into contact with the disabled
people‟s movement. Shakespeare acknowledges that they recognise „daily experiences of