Disability and Chronic Illness

Disability and chronic illness are understood differently depending on the conceptual framework we adopt. Biomedical approaches tend to focus attention on the extent to which specific physiological or psychological problems constrain individuals, and the extent to which these problems can be overcome. By contrast, more recent work on the sociocultural dimensions of disability had drawn our attention to the ways in which material and symbolic character of specific social formations work to ‘disable’ populations living with a variety of embodied differences. Geographers have made a number of contributions to this evolving scholarship on disability and chronic illness, focusing particular attention on the complex relationship between embodied experience, and the material and discursive character of the social environment. These contributions vary significantly, with some designed to improve the geographic mobility of individuals, others offering conceptual advances, and yet others informing collective political action of disabled groups. In the process, geographers have confronted ethical questions about how to work equitably with disabled persons as research participants and partners.