Snyder, S. & Mitchell, D. (2005). Cultural locations of disability. University of Chicago Press.

For: Cultural Models

This concept focuses on the "cultural locations of disability". Rather than viewing disability strictly as a medical deficit or a social oppression, this framework locates disability as a cultural phenomenon. It aligns with Nusbaum’s argument that research is inherently non-neutral and should examine how disability is produced within cultural contexts rather than just observed as a biological fact.

State University of New York at Binghamton

- Cultural Models (Snyder & Mitchell)
- Realist Disability Theory (Siebers)
- Cripistemologies (Johnson & McRuer)
- Crip Horizons (Kolářová)

Theoretical Advancements Beyond the Social Model: Moves toward frameworks that promote agency and the centrality of the body.

Lester, J. N. (Ed.). (2021). Discursive Psychology and Disability. Palgrave Studies in Discursive Psychology. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Reference For: Discursive Psychology and Disability

Theoretical Advancements in DS: Cultural Models (Snyder & Mitchell)

This theory positions the "impaired body as existing before language and social construction". This is a crucial distinction for researchers using Discursive Psychology. While DP focuses on how reality is constructed through talk (language), Siebers’ theory reminds scholars that the physical, impaired body has a central reality that precedes description. It bridges the gap between the physical reality of impairment and the social construction of disability.

Theoretical Advancements in DS: Realist Disability Theory (Siebers)

This concept involves "centering the disabled bodymind at the beginning/center of knowledge production". A combination of "crip" theory and "epistemology" (the study of knowledge), this framework challenges who gets to be the "knower." It argues that knowledge should stem directly from the lived experience of the disabled bodymind, rather than disability being a subject studied from the outside by non-disabled experts.

Theoretical Advancements in DS: Cripstemologies (Johnson & McRuer)

These are described as "spaces in which disability is rendered desirable". This concept aggressively rejects deficit-based models (which view disability as a tragedy or burden). Instead, it envisions futures and social spaces where disability is valued and wanted, aligning with Nusbaum's call for research that supports the "active construction" of disability as a positive ideology rather than a static problem.

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