Exercise, rehabilitation and posthuman disability studies: Four responses

Monforte, Javier; Gibson, Barbara E.; Smith, Brett; Goodley, Dan

Abstract

This chapter takes a detour from sport in the strict sense of the term. Instead, it focuses on exercise-based rehabilitation. In conventional rehabilitation, exercise is a means by which disabled people can return to their “normal” lives and recover their independence. This convention arises from an understanding of disabled people as flawed humans that need repair to become proper humans. Moving on from such an ableist understanding will lead us to conceive and do rehabilitation differently. In the same way, changing how rehabilitation is performed and assigning exercise other roles will transform our notions of disability. One way of making these theoretical and practical shifts thinkable is to engage with posthuman disability studies. Yet, this approach to thinking can seem too dense and abstract to be useful. In this chapter, we provide an accessible and practical introduction to posthuman disability studies, so that those who have not studied it can connect with the ideas productively and put them into work.

Citation

Monforte, J., Gibson, B. E., Smith, B., & Goodley, D. (2023). Exercise, rehabilitation and posthuman disability studies: Four responses. In Researching Disability Sport: Theory, Method, Practice (171-184). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003153696

• Online Publication Date: Dec 12, 2022
• Publication Date: Mar 23, 2023
• Deposit Date: Feb 23, 2025
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 171-184
• Book Title: Researching Disability Sport: Theory, Method, Practice
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003153696
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3543890