ABSTRACT

The notion of ‘community’ plays a central role in disability studies (Longmore 2003: 222-3). While positive values such as solidarity, altruism and togetherness are often linked with the idea of community, other issues also arise, such as exclusion, division and separation (Takala and Häyry 2004: 276). In this chapter I examine the implications of using community as the main focus point when discussing some ethical issues related to disability. The limits of the usefulness of this concept are studied, and I will show how reliance on communal considerations alone might lead to detrimental consequences. I do not claim that community thinking should be totally disregarded, nor that community values should be altogether dismissed. I will, however, argue that there are limits to what notions of community can do for us, and that perhaps other considerations should be taken into account. In this chapter, I will be looking at disabled people as a group that is judged against the ‘gold standard’ of our societies, at the bodily aspects of such classifications, at the pros and cons of oppressed groups uniting together, and at the notion of the victim position. I will conclude by suggesting that because of the untoward consequences of classifying people, we should perhaps not label and categorise human beings, when and if this is possible.