The war on disabled people : capitalism, welfare and the making of a human catastrophe / Ellen Clifford.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Clifford, Ellen (Disabled activist), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

People with disabilities--Government policy--Great Britain.

People with disabilities.

People with disabilities--Services for--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (385 pages)

Distribution:

[London, England] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021

Place of Publication:

London, England : Zed Books, 2020.

Summary:

In 2016, a United Nations report found the UK government culpable for 'grave and systematic violations' of disabled people's rights. Since then, driven by the Tory government's obsessive drive to slash public spending whilst scapegoating the most disadvantaged in society, the situation for disabled people in Britain has continued to deteriorate. Punitive welfare regimes, the removal of essential support and services, and an ideological regime that seeks to deny disability has resulted in a situation described by the UN as a 'human catastrophe'. In this searing account, Ellen Clifford - an activist who has been at the heart of resistance against the war on disabled people - reveals precisely how and why this state of affairs has come about. From spineless political opposition to self-interested disability charities, rightwing ideological myopia to the media demonization of benefits claimants, a shocking picture emerges of how the government of the fifth-richest country in the world has been able to marginalize disabled people with near-impunity.

Contents:

Introduction

Part I: 'Hidden in plain sight': the social context for the war on disabled people

1: Who are disabled people?

A not insignificant group of people

From the isolation of impairment to the collective experience of disability

2: Justifiable exclusion: attitudes and othering of disabled people

Structures that 'other'

Better dead than disabled: disability as personal tragedy

Disability as a justifiable exclusion

A question of worth

3: From asylums to independent living: disabled people on the edge of society

'A very capitalist condition'

Solutions for the 'unproductive': a brief historical overview

Fighting for equality

New Labour betrayal

A history of oppression

Part II: Targeting disabled people: retrogressive legislation and policy since 2010

4: Welfare 'reform'

Legislating for welfare reform

The architects of welfare reform

Employment and Support Allowance and the Work Capability Assessment

Personal Independence Payment

Mandatory Reconsideration

Universal Credit

Housing-related changes

Benefit cap

Pulling apart the safety net

5: Independent living cuts

Social care

Independent Living Fund

Mental health

Assessment and Treatment Units

Housing

Inclusive education

Employment

Barriers to justice

Losing the gains of generations

Part III: 'Human catastrophe': the impact of austerity and welfare reform on disabled people

6: The human cost

Rising poverty

Multiple hits

Benefit deaths

Psychological harm

Crisis in social care

Mental health service closures

Pushing people further from employment

Creating problems for the future

Compassion replaced with contempt

7: Re-segregating society

Reversing inclusion

Living in fear of surveillance

Scroungers versus superhumans

Charity cases and passive victims

The fight for equal life chances

8: Political fallout

Politicising the people

Lib Dem calamity

SNP victories

The dangerous rise of UKIP

From Labour's betrayal to Corbyn's election

Brexit

The voting power of disabled people

Part IV: Understanding the welfare war: why disabled people are under attack

9: A story of ideology and incompetence

Context

Driven by ideology

The incompetence factor

Resisting neoliberal attacks

10: Collaborators

Vested interests

Complicity by cover and the limits of third-sector lobbying

Failed by those believed to represent us

Part V: Fighting back: the rise of resistance

11: Forefront of the fightback

The growth of 'new' activism

'Crip Culture'

New directions

Wins

UN findings

Atos

Workfare

Missed DLA/PIP savings

Progress and pitfalls

12: Concluding thoughts: where do we go from here?

Notes:

Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on August 27, 2020).

ISBN:

9781350348165

1350348163

9781786996664

1786996669

9781350225732

1350225738

9781786996657

1786996650

OCLC:

1182857600