Tremain critiques philosophy itself as a discipline that reproduces ableist norms. Canonical philosophy often assumes a rational, autonomous, able-bodied subject as the default human being. By excluding disabled thinkers—both literally through inaccessibility and figuratively through epistemic exclusion—philosophy perpetuates a hierarchy of whose minds and bodies are considered capable of reason.

Philosophy's Role in Ableism 

Tremain introduces the concept of the apparatus of disability, borrowing from Foucault’s idea of an apparatus (or dispositif). This refers to the interconnected systems—laws, medical classifications, cultural narratives—that bring disability into being and sustain it. Understanding disability as an apparatus shifts the focus from individual impairment to the power structures that make certain bodies “disabled” within particular social orders.

Arizona State University

Using Foucault’s concept of governmentality, Tremain shows how disability is managed through bureaucratic and institutional systems—such as diagnosis, welfare policy, and academic accommodations. These systems claim to “help” disabled people but actually regulate and define them, shaping how they must present themselves to access support. In this way, disability is continuously “produced” through mechanisms of governance.

Governmentality & the "Production" of Disability

Tremain, S. (2015). This Is What a Historicist and Relativist Feminist Philosophy of Disability Looks Like. Foucault Studies, (19), 7–42. https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.v0i19.4822

This Is What a Historicist and Relativist Feminist Philosophy of Disability Looks Like Reference

Tremain argues that the very concept of the “normal” body or mind is a political construct. The pursuit of normalcy sustains ableist hierarchies, positioning certain ways of moving, thinking, or communicating as superior. Whether in education, employment, or medicine, the push to restore or approximate “normal function” perpetuates the devaluation of disabled lives under the guise of neutrality and care.

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