What is ableism, and how does it manifest in Anarchist circles?

Ableism, in it’s simplest definition, is an act of violence against those who are deemed lesser by society due to their ability. This can be done through structural means via the state, but also through physical and emotional means.

This exists in the modern day in the form of everything from eugenics and other breaks of human rights of the disabled to budget cuts for disability benefits, from mothers murdering their children over their disability to bullying. All of these are ableist.

This is all very easy for leftists to oppose, of course. This all sounds like opression. But this isn’t the ableism we should be wary of inside our groups.

In leftist groups, ableism mostly manifests itself in deeply ingrained ideas of structural and emotional violence being justified due to centuries of misinformation and demonisation. It’s sentences like “Severely autistic children are a burden on society”, “people suffer from disability” and things like intelligence being anything real and that care should be forced upon the disabled.

Autistic children being a burden on society is quite easy to disprove, as it’s not anything to do with autism itself; it has to do with ableism. Kids with autism are abandoned as soon as life starts or face significant hardship trying to hide their true selves, often to traumatic and otherwise devestating emotional damage to the children. Their needs are ignored from the start and they are mistreated. Their suffering is caused by ableism, not by how they exist.

Intelligence is a false idea in itself. It’s assigning someone’s worth based on some characteristics and looking at them in complete isolation. It creates a hierarchy based on something not inherent to a person. It’s more based on someone’s opportunities in life and their privileges than anything related to how able one is at doing things, as education biases it incredibly.

Care should never be forced upon the disabled. This is a clear form of violence and goes directly against anarchist principes! Care only with consent, with autonomy and with freedom, not forced upon those who don’t want it.

As the state is what upholds and makes violence a institution and is the source of structural violence, having violence against any group of people is what upholds the state. This includes ableism. Thus, we should fight ableism, as fighting ableism is fighting the state.

Love, Ina.