The Citational Structure of (Dis)ability

The so-called social model of disability has triggered a paradigm shift regarding our understanding of what a body is and how we attribute capacities to it. However, its conception of disability as a relationship between subject and environment has not been properly clarified, remaining ambiguous and lacking in content. Drawing on the work of Judith Butler and her reappropriation of derridean citationality, I argue that the idea of capacity expressed as the subject’s relationship to the environment discloses a citational structure, that is, it reveals that capacity is sustained by recourse to a pre-existing environment that enables it. The article begins by outlining the main features of both the social and medical models, pointing out their advantages and limitations. It then retrieves the relationship between subject and environment as a key element of capable action and elaborates on it through the concept of citationality, providing multiple examples. Finally, it explicitly dissociates itself from the social model by criticizing the idea that every disability is based on a personal limitation. This last section also allows the article to further explore the key concepts of 'norm' and 'citation' using the example of communication.

disability, social model, environment, citationality, Judith Butler

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