On naming groups in the margins. Constructs of (dis)ability in the morning press across time in the nation-state of Sweden

Abstract

This paper aims to unpack the complexity of how (dis)ability is positioned through naming processes in the largest morning papers in the nation-state of Sweden. The data consists of articles during the period 1992–2016, analyzed through quantitative and qualitative approaches in three stages. The procedure has allowed for identifying the continuous conceptual development of overlapping categories and constructs. Questions about how (dis)ability is addressed and how it is positioned in relation to other marginalized groups have guided the analysis. The concept migration is used as a point of reference in order to compare parallel and intersecting identity-positionings and thereby to allow for further illuminating what shifts in identified constructs imply for the area of identity scholarship. The findings highlight a development towards a diversified vocabulary and the formation of contextually bound constructs of functionality across areas in which different meanings and uses of (dis)ability are named and thereby made (in)visible.