The Rhetoric of Ableism

Abstract:This essay argues that rhetoric is both the means by which ableist

culture perpetuates itself and the basis of successful strategies for

challenging its practices. Public demonstrations, countercultural

performances, autobiography, transformative histories, and critiques of

ableist films and novels all apply rhetorical solutions to the problem

of ableism. The study employs Kenneth Burke's theory of identification

and Stuart Hall's configuration of ideology to uncover those commonplace

"languages of practical thought" that generate and sustain ableist

perspectives and ideas. Focusing on the rhetoric of ableism at the level

of the warrants used to interpret disability, this article closely

examines the way Aristotle's Generation of Animals relies on the equivocation "normal is natural."Disabled Studies Quarterly Vol 31, No 3 (2011)Dr. James L. Cherney is Assistant Professor of Communication at Wayne State University