![]() ![]() Given the diverse characteristics of indigenous peoples in North America, a general definition of disability did not exist. What is less explicit in her book is that the shifting conception of disability in US history is closely linked to the contradiction between the need for labor and the social and economic cost of providing for those whom society has disabled, or has erringly determined “unfit” to work. ![]() Nielsen emphasizes that the concept of disability in the United States is historically shaped and fraught with contradictions. In this sense, Nielsen’s contribution to a growing body of disability studies and to labor history is much needed and highly recommended. ![]() A Disability History is a valuable contribution to understanding the labor movement of Black, white, immigrant, and women workers who participated in work, school, child rearing, and war-despite the increased institutional forces that attempted to make them invisible and to exploit them. ![]() In the process, Nielsen’s book actually elaborates the history of labor in this country. Kim Nielsen tackles two different tasks in A Disability History of the United States: telling “the history of people with disabilities,” and also telling “the history of the concept of disability.” Her book traces how communities assigned value to individuals from precolonial times to today, and how individuals collectively challenged the rhetoric, paternalism, and outright hatred hidden behind the ideals of individualism and independence. ![]()
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