• Historical Epistemology as Disability Studies Methodology: From the Models Framework to Foucault’s Archaeology of Cure

    Author(s):
    Aimi Hamraie (see profile)
    Date:
    2016
    Group(s):
    Critical Disability Studies
    Subject(s):
    Disability studies, Medicine--Philosophy, Medicine, History, Science--Philosophy
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Foucault, Epistemology, History and philosophy of medicine, Philosophy of science
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6B970
    Abstract:
    In this paper, I argue for historical epistemology as a methodology for critical disability studies (DS) by looking to Foucault’s archaeology of cure in History of Madness. While the moral, medical, and social models of disability frame disability history as a progressive movement and replacement of moral and medical authority with sociopolitical knowledge, I argue that the overall framing of these models—the models framework—requires a more nuanced perspective from historical epistemology. In particular, it requires greater use of epistemology as an analytical tool for understanding the historical construction of disability. Turning to History of Madness, I excavate one particular archaeological strand in the text—the archaeology of cure—and demonstrate how this narrative disrupts some of the key assumptions of the models framework, challenging DS to consider the epistemological force of non-medical fields of knowledge for framing disability and procedures for its cure and elimination. I conclude by arguing that DS must pay attention not only to the social construction of scientific and biomedical knowledge, but also develop historical epistemological methodologies that are more sensitive to the complex overlays of moral, medical, and social knowledge.
    Metadata:
    Published as:
    Journal article    
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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