Is there something wrong with society, or is it just me? : Social and medical knowledge in a Norwegian anti-discrimination law
Journal article, Peer reviewed
Postprint version of article. the original article published by routledge can be found at u r l: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15017410903338853

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2010-01-05Metadata
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Original version
Grue, J. (2010). Is there something wrong with society, or is it just me? Social and medical knowledge in a Norwegian anti-discrimination law. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 12(3), 165-178 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15017410903338853Abstract
What is the current relationship between the social and medical definitions of
disability in Norway? The Norwegian Discrimination and Accessibility Act, which
entered into effect on 1 January 2009, frames its overarching goals in terms of
human rights and equal opportunity and studiously avoids the use of medicodiagnostic
language. Most of the specific provisions of the law are, however,
justified as means of compensation for inherent or pre-existing disadvantage due
to impairment. In order to be effective, they must engage with medical,
impairment-specific knowledge. Social and medical perspectives and explanatory
models that are often seen as conflicting or even mutually exclusive instead
become intertwined in the spaces of negotiation that are opened by the law. Thus,
elements of what has traditionally been termed the medical model become
integrated in a larger framework that is defined by the goals of the social model.