ABLEIST OFFENSIVES AND THE FEAR OF A CRIPPLED PLANET: CHALLENGES FOR DISABILITY ACTIVISM

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to define the ableist offensives, which reiterate the ableism historically experienced by people with disabilities and threaten the rights conquered by them. We affirm that there are relationships between ableism, eugenics, and neoliberal policies and that these relationships constitute the ableist offensives. We present some materialities of the ableist offensives referring to the attacks that took place in the period between 2019 and 2022 to the rights conquered by people with disabilities. Then, we will briefly contextualize the antigender offensives, establishing relationships between them and the ableist offensives. Subsequently, we address the issue of eugenics, which has been an important pillar of both ableist and anti-gender offensives. Based on these arguments, we conceptualize the ableist offensives and their relationship with neoliberalism and the fear of a crippled planet. Finally, we present some ethical-political assumptions for the strengthening of anti-ableist struggle for disability activism towards the construction of a crippled planet.