ABSTRACT
The sociological critique of the medical model, in line with Marxist and postcolonial critiques, shares an idealist perspective that an all-encompassing solution to social questions, including that of how to deal with difference in educational systems, is possible. Yet tensions, such as those inherent in the use of the language of “reasonable” accommodations, still persist. The argument in this chapter is that there are two elements to this: (a) the lack of attention to other political value systems such as liberal, communitarian and traditional/conservative philosophies and their impact in liberal democracies, and (b) the failure of other attempts at resolving such tensions, such as the Dilemma of Difference approach, due to a focus on process rather than values.
