Disability and age-observations from an intersectional perspective

Abstract

More and more people with disabilities are reaching an advanced age. At the same time the life expectancy of the population as awhole is increasing, which is accompanied by an increase in physical, mental and cognitive impairments. This results in specific social inequalities and forms of discrimination, which, however, have so far not played aspecial role in the intersectionality debates. While the intersections of disability and gender and also of age and gender are being studied, there have been hardly any studies on the intersection of age (and especially higher age) and disability so far. It is also promising in terms of theory formation to combine both categories, which could be helpful for empirical research and the routine practice. In intersectionality research the question is discussed which categories can be regarded as central in order to critically analyze power structures and forms of discrimination. This article discusses to what extent both age and disability should be considered relevant categories in intersectional theory and research. To this end, the role of the body and the concept of normality with respect to both categories and their intersection are discussed.