Disability and Political Theory

Barbara Arneil · Nancy J. Hirschmann

Dec 2016 · Cambridge University Press

About this ebook

Though disability scholarship has been robust in history, philosophy, English, and sociology for decades, political theory and political science more generally have been slow to catch up. This groundbreaking volume presents the first full-length book on political theory approaches to disability issues. Barbara Arneil and Nancy J. Hirschmann bring together some of the leading scholars in political theory to provide a historical analysis of disability through the works of canonical figures, ranging from Hobbes and Locke to Kant, Rawls and Arendt, as well as an analysis of disability in contemporary political theory, examining key concepts, such as freedom, power and justice. Disability and Political Theory introduces a new disciplinary framework to disability studies, and provides a comprehensive introduction to a new topic of political theory.

About the author

Barbara Arneil is Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and the author of John Locke and America (1996), Feminism and Politics (1999), Diverse Communities: The Problem with Social Capital (Cambridge, 2006), and a co-edited anthology entitled Sexual Justice/Cultural Justice (2006). Scholarly recognition includes the Harrison Prize (best article published in Political Studies), the Rockefeller Fellowship in Bellagio, C. B. MacPherson Prize (shortlist) and Killam Research and Teaching Prizes.

Nancy J. Hirschmann is Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and has published many books and articles in feminist theory and disability theory, including The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom (2003), Gender, Class and Freedom in Modern Political Theory (2008), and Civil Disabilities: Citizenship, Membership, and Belonging (2015), co-edited with Beth Linker.