Whose ‘Ordinary Life’ Is It Anyway?

Abstract

This paper offers a feminist critique of current community care policy and of the normalisation ideology which underpins it. Drawing on experience in services for people with learning difficulties and people who use mental health services, the authors draw a series of parallels between ‘clients’ and women in our society. They discuss the mechanisms whereby groups of people are accorded second class status and the ways in which such oppression is experienced. Strategies for change are discussed with reference to feminist scholarship and the development of the women's movement. The prevailing philosophy of normalisation, which is both apolitical and highly individualistic, is challenged to take more account of collective and communal ways forward and to acknowledge the interdependence of people who need care and their carers. Despite the rhetoric of community care, the work of carers (most of whom are women) is undervalued and unsupported. Mainstream values such as competitiveness and self-reliance are incompatible with the integration of people with disabilities and a theoretical framework which confronts such conflicts of interest is required.

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