In this paper we consider the ways in which concepts of and attitudes towards ‘disability’ affect disabled people's ability to move freely within public spaces. We first set the paper in context by briefly discussing recent developments in and ongoing debates on the conceptualisation of disability which have accompanied the growing disability rights movement. Next we examine feminist literature relating to the links between biology and the body and the social status of women and draw out parallels for the analysis of disabled people's social situation. We then discuss a possible framework for the analysis of disabled people's experience of public space. Finally, to illustrate the reflexive relationship between bodily and social experience, we draw on in-depth interview material from a case study of visually impaired people in Reading and Leeds, England.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AbsolonPBowlbyS R, 1989, “Developing more effective door-to-door transport services”, in Proceedings of the PTRC 17th Summer Annual Transport and Planning Meeting (PTRC, London) pp 87–98
2.
Americans with Disabilities Act, 1990, P.L. 101–336, 42 USC 12100
3.
BakerM C, 1984The Beauty Trap (Piatkus, London)
4.
BarnesC, 1991Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination (C Hurst, London)
5.
BarnesCOliverM, 1995, “Disability rights: Rhetoric and reality in the UK”Disability and Society10111–116
6.
BarthesR, 1978A Lover's Discourse translated by HowardR (Hill and Wang, New York)
7.
BartonL, (Ed.), 1989Disability and Dependence (Falmer, Lewes)
8.
BartonL, (Ed.), 1996Disability and Society: Emerging Issues and Insights (Longman, Harlow, Essex)
9.
BegumN, 1992, “Disabled women and the feminist agenda”Feminist Reviewnumber 40, 70–83
10.
BennettT, 1988, “Planning for disabled access”Planning Practice and Researchnumber 4, 8–10
11.
BordoS, 1993, “Feminism, Foucault and the politics of the body”, in Up Against Foucault: Explorations of Some Tensions Between Foucault and Feminism Ed. RamazanogluC (Routledge, London) pp 179–202
12.
BraidottiR, 1989, “The politics of ontological difference”, in Between Feminism and Psychoanalysis Ed. BrennanT (Routledge, London)
13.
BraidottiR, 1991Patterns of Dissonance (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
14.
BrownC, 1984Black and White Britain: The Third PSI Survey (Heinemann, London)
15.
BruceIMcKennellAWalkerE, 1991Blind and Partially Sighted Adults in Britain: The RNIB Survey, Volume 1 (Stationery Office, London)
16.
BryanBDadzieSScafeS, 1985The Heart of the Race (Virago, London)
17.
BurgdorfM PBurgdorfR, 1975, “A history of unequal treatment: The qualifications of handicapped persons as a suspect class under the equal protection clause”Santa Clara Lawyer15855–910
18.
ButlerR E, 1995, “What you see is what you get: Urban information systems for visually impaired people”, paper presented at the 10th Urban Change and Conflict Conference, Royal Holloway, University of London, 5–7 September; copy available from the author
19.
CamplingJ, (Ed.), 1981Images of Ourselves (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London)
20.
CrowL, 1996, “Including all of our lives: Renewing the social model of disability”, in Encounters with Strangers: Feminism and Disability Ed. MorrisJ (Women's Press, London)
21.
DaviesM, 1990City of Quartz (Verso, London)
22.
De BeauvoirS, 1953The Second Sex (Alfred A Knopf, New York)
23.
DefordF, 1971There She Is: The Life and Times of Miss America (Viking Press, New York)
24.
Disability Discrimination Act, 1995Public General Acts—Elizabeth II, chapter 50 (Stationery Office, London)
25.
Disability, Handicap and Society1992, “Special issue: Researching disability”7 (2)
26.
DoE, 1992The Building Regulations 1991. Access and Facilities for Disabled People. Approved Document MDepartment of the Environment and Welsh Office (Stationery Office, London)
27.
DoT, 1991Disability Unit Circular 1/91: The Use of Dropped Kerbs and Tactile Surfaces at Pedestrian Crossing PointsDisability Unit, Department of Transport, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3EB
28.
EliasN, 1982The Civilizing Process2 volumes (Pantheon, New York)
29.
FeatherstoneM, 1991, “The body in consumer culture”, in The Body: Social Process and Cultural Theory Eds FeatherstoneMHepworthMTurnerB (Sage, London) pp 170–196
30.
FinkelsteinV, 1996, “The disability movement has run out of steam”Disability Now February, page 11
31.
KellerFox E, 1985Reflections on Gender and Science (Yale University Press, New Haven, CT)
32.
FrankA W, 1991, “For a sociology of the body: An analytical review”, in The Body: Social Process and Cultural Theory Eds FeatherstoneMHepworthMTurnerB (Sage, London) pp 36–102
33.
FrenchS, 1994, “Disability, impairment or something in between?”, in Disabling Barriers—Enabling Environments Eds SwainJFinkelsteinVFrenchSOliverM (Sage, London) pp 17–25
34.
FulcherG, 1996, “Beyond normalisation but not Utopia”, in Disability and Society: Emerging Issues and Insights Ed. BartonL (Longman, Harlow, Essex) pp 167–190
GoffmanE, 1971Relations in Public: Microstudies of the Public Order (Basic Books, New York)
37.
GolledgeR G, 1993, “Geography and the disabled: A survey with special reference to vision impaired and blind populations”Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series1863–85
38.
GoodingC, 1996Blackstone's Guide to the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Blackstone, London)
39.
HahnH, 1986, “Disability and the urban environment: A perspective on Los Angeles”Environment and Planning D: Society and Space4273–288
40.
HarawayD, 1991Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (Free Association Books, London)
41.
HartsockN, 1985Money, Sex and Power (Northeastern University Press, Boston, MA)
42.
Harvard Law Review1987, “Facial discrimination: Extending handicap law to employment discrimination on the basis of physical appearance”1002035–2052
43.
HeveyD, 1991, “From self love to the picket line: Strategies for change in disability representation”, in Disability Arts and Culture Papers Ed. LeesS (Shape Publications, London) pp 23–30
44.
hooks bell, 1985Feminist Theory from Margin to Centre (South End Press, Boston, MA)
45.
ImrieR, 1996Disability and the City: International Perspectives (Paul Chapman, London)
46.
IrigarayL, 1985Speculum of the Other Woman translated by GillG C (Cornell University Press, New York)
47.
JordanovaL, 1980, “Natural facts: A historical perspective on science and sexuality”, in Nature, Culture and Gender Eds MacCormackC PStrathernM (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) pp 42–69
48.
JordanovaL, 1989Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and Medicine in the Eighteenth and Twentieth Century (Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, Herts)
49.
LloydM, 1992, “Does she boil eggs? Towards a feminist model of disability”Disability, Handicap and Society7207–221
50.
LonghurstR, 1995, “The body and geography”Gender, Place and Culture297–105
51.
LynchK, 1960The Image of the City (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
52.
MartinJMeltzerHElliotD, 1988The Prevalence of Disability Among Adults: OPCS Survey of Disability in Great Britain Report 1, Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (Stationery Office, London)
53.
MerchantC, 1983The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology and the Scientific Revolution (Harper and Row, New York)
MorrisJ, 1991Pride Against Prejudice (Women's Press, London)
56.
MorrisJ, 1902, “Personal and political: A feminist perspective on researching physical disability”Disability. Handicap and Society7157–166
57.
MorrisJ, 1993, “Feminism and disability”Feminist Reviewnumber 43, 57–70
58.
OakleyA, 1981Subject Women (Martin Robertson, Oxford)
59.
OliverM, 1990The Politics of Disablement (Macmillan, London)
60.
PhillipsA, 1987Divided Loyalties: Dilemmas of Sex and Class (Virago, London)
61.
RichA, 1977Of Woman Born (Women's Press, London)
62.
RodawayP, 1994Sensuous Geographies: Body, Sense and Place (Routledge, London)
63.
RoseG, 1993Feminism and Geography: The Limits of Geographical Knowledge (Polity Press, Cambridge)
64.
SaxtonMHoweF, (Eds), 1987With Wings: An Anthology of Literature by and about Women with Disabilities (Feminist Press, New York)
65.
Scarman Lord, 1981The Scarman Report: The Brixton Disorders 10–12 April 1981 (Stationery Office, London)
66.
SegalL, 1987Is the Future Female? (Virago, London)
67.
SennettR, 1994Flesh and Stone (Faber and Faber, London)
68.
ShakespeareT, 1993, “Disabled people's self organisation: A new social movement'?”Disability, Handicap and Society8249–266
69.
ShakespeareT, 1994, “Cultural representation of disabled people: Dustbins for disavowal”Disability and Society9283–299
70.
ShakespeareT, 1995, “Am I that body”, seminar given in a series of seminars on The Body at Reading University, 20 February; video of the seminar available on loan from Department of French Studies, University of Reading, Reading
71.
ShakespeareT, 1996, “Disability, identity, difference”, in Exploring the Divide: Illness and Disability Eds BarnesCMercerG (Disability Press, Leeds) pp 94–113
72.
SJAC, 1979Can Disabled People go Where you go? Silver Jubilee Access Committee ReportDepartment of Health and Social Security, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London SW1
73.
SmithN, 1992, “Homeless/global: Scaling places”, in Mapping the Futures: Local Cultures, Global Change Eds BirdJCurtisBPutnamTRobertsonGTicknerL (Routledge, London) pp 88–119
SynnottA, 1993The Body Social: Symbolism, Self and Society (Routledge, London)
76.
UPIAS, 1976Fundamental Principles of DisabilityUnion of the Physically Impaired Against Segregation, London; UPIAS was wound up in 1990; similar definitions are available from Disabled People's International, Box 36033, S-10071, Stockholm, Sweden
YoungI M, 1990, “Throwing like a girl: A phenomenology of feminine body comportment, motility, and spatiality”, in Throwing Like a Girl and Other Essays in Feminist Philosophy and Social Theory (University of Indiana Press, Bloomington, IN) pp 141–160
