(Re)constructing and (re)habilitating the disabled body: World War One era disability policy and its enduring ramifications
Keywords:
rehabilitation, pensions, disability, World War I, productivityAbstract
This article examines the emergence of federal rehabilitation and pension programs for disabled soldiers during World War One in Canada. Rehabilitation is the intervention on individuals’ behavior, minds and bodies to bring them closer to social norms and, is frequently viewed as an unproblematic good in social policy. Disability and rehabilitation were discursively constructed during this time in ways that upheld existing social values and supported capitalist production. Conceptualizations of disability were overtly linked to one’s capacity to be economically productive within federal policy and discourse. The medical model of disability was entrenched through this policy. The emergence of Canadian rehabilitation programs for injured soldiers remains significant to Canadian social policy both because it set the stage for the development of Canada’s welfare policy, and residues of the disablist principles that were foundational to the program can be found within contemporary social policy. This examination demonstrates that through these programs, the federal government first interlocked disability with economic productivity in its policy and discourse, which worked to support the establishment of the medical model of disability and reinforce oppressive ideas about gender and citizenship.
(Re)construire et (re)habiliter le corps handicapé: Les politiques reliées au handicap et la réhabilitation pendant la première Guerre Mondiale et ses conséquences de longue durée
Résumé
Cet article examine l’émergence des programmes de réhabilitation et de pension fédéraux affectant les soldats ayant un handicap revenant de la première guerre mondiale au Canada. La réhabilitation comprend les interventions sur le comportement, les esprits et les corps des individus afin de les rapprocher le plus possible des normes sociales, et elle est perçue en politique sociale comme un bien ne posant aucuns problèmes. Le handicap et la réhabilitation sont construit durant cette période par un discours qui contribue au maintient de valeurs sociales dominantes et des formes de production capitalistes. Les conceptions du handicap sont alors manifestement relies dans les politiques et le discours fédéraux aux capacités du citoyen d’être économiquement productif. Le modèle médical du handicap devient fermement ancré a travers ces politiques et discours. L’émergence de programmes de réhabilitation canadiens pour les soldats blesses demeurent significatif pour la politique sociale canadienne parce que cela crée les conditions pour le développement de la politique d’aide sociale canadienne, et parce que des résidus des principes capacitistes sur lesquels ils sont fondés existent encore dans la politique sociale contemporaine. Mon analyse démontre que a travers ces politiques le gouvernement fédéral a, en premier lieu imbriquer le handicap avec l’idée de productivité économique dans ses politiques et ses discours, mais cela a aussi servi a soutenir le modèle médical du handicap comme le seul valide, et aussi a renforcer des notions opprimantes sur le genre et la citoyenneté.
Mots Clefs : réhabilitation; pensions; handicap; première guerre mondiale; productivité
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