The Biopolitics of Inclusion: Disability and Capacity in the Singapore Nation

PhD in Disability Studies Dissertation Defense by Kuansong Victor Zhuang

Abstract:

The current inclusion of disabled bodies internationally has resulted in what McRuer (2010) has termed an uneven biopolitical incorporation, one where some are targeted for life even as others are for death. While disability studies has examined how bodies are debilitated and excluded, the processes by which the biopolitical state folds disabled people into life have been under theorized. In Singapore, the biopolitical inclusion of disabled people has gained speed and publicity since the mid 2000s, as the state sought to build a more inclusive society. This has been manifested in various cultural events and phenomena, from carnivals like the Purple Parade, inclusive community spaces such as the Enabling Village, politicians reaffirming the need to build a more inclusive society, and public education campaigns such as See the True Me. Yet, Singapore has refused any consideration of legislation to reaffirm disability rights, nor is there a comprehensive welfare state with disability benefits. Examining the cultural manifestations of inclusion in Singapore such as celebrations, accessible space, and public education campaigns, I argue that in Singapore and in other nation-states, the effect of inclusion is the inadvertent production of a new, and possibly less benign, figuration of disability that I am calling the included. The included is actively embraced by a state that demands inclusion of bodies it deems and marks out as disabled, folding them into the confines of life. Focusing on the ways in which disabled people are capacitated for inclusion, I highlight the ways in which disabled bodies become involved in a form of biopolitical control. Inclusion, while desirable and seemingly benevolent, also creates effects of control and containment. How are disabled people in Singapore included? What does being included mean? Who is included?

Reference: McRuer, Robert. 2010. “Disability Nationalism in Crip Times.” Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies 4 (2): 163-178.

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Zoom Info

Topic: Victor Zhuang’s Dissertation Defense

Time: Sep 3, 2021 05:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

               Sep 3, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

               Sep 4, 2021 06:00 AM Singapore Time

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