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Women’s Health Movements pp 231–266Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Toward a Universalism of Inclusion

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Abstract

This chapter returns to the discussion of the intersection of gender, race, and class in order to explore health inequities in relation to difference, adding more dimensions—disability, mental impairment, and the sequelae of war. Activists in women’s health movements have reshaped definitions of women’s health by shifting the paradigm from the biomedical sphere into a wider social framework. International disability movements claim disability as a collective identity rather than a medical category and recognize the political and economic dimensions of disability inequity as it intersects with other sources of inequality. Disability and mental impairment are ideal subjects for an intersectional exploration of gender, race, and class politics. This chapter concludes with some thoughts about universalism and equity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Universal design is an inclusive approach to design that enables as many people as possible regardless of age, ability, or situation to use products, services, and environments.

  2. 2.

    For an excellent review of these fields, see Goodley (2013).

  3. 3.

    Marchers in the Women’s Rights March in Washington, DC, on 21 January wore pink hats with cats’ ears, named for Trump’s infamous 2016 campaign quote “grab ’em by the pussy.”

  4. 4.

    The original signatories are the following: Shamshad Akhtar (Pakistan), Amat Alsoswa (Yemen), Valerie Amos (United Kingdom), Zainab Bangura (Sierra Leone), Catherine Bertini (United States), Irina Bokova (Bulgaria), Gina Casar (Mexico), Margaret Chan (China), Helen Clark (New Zealand), Radhika Coomaraswamy (Sri Lanka), Ertharin Cousin (United States), Christiana Figueres (Costa Rica), Louise Frechette (Canada), Cristina Gallach (Spain), Rebeca Grynspan (Costa Rica), Noeleen Heyzer (Singapore), Elisabeth Lindenmayer (France), Susana Malcorra (Argentina), Aïchatou Mindaoudou (Niger), Flavia Pansieri (Italy), Navi Pillay (South Africa), Mary Robinson (Ireland), Josette Sheeran (United States), Fatiah Serour (Algeria), Ann Veneman (United States), and Sahle-Work Zewde (Ethiopia). The number has since doubled.

  5. 5.

    For a feminist critique of the social contract, which is based on the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, see Pateman (1989).

  6. 6.

    The term social exclusion was first used in France by René Lenoir, former Secrétaire d’État à l’Action Sociale in the publication, Les exclus: un français sur dix in 1974. The British picked up social exclusion in the 1980s, using it somewhat differently to refer to hierarchies of power. In the United States, where the term is not common, social exclusion is written about in concepts of the underclass, discrimination, and disadvantage. For a discussion of measuring social exclusion in the health care setting, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5796599/, accessed 18 May 2019.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Meredeth Turshen

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  1. Meredeth Turshen
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Correspondence to Meredeth Turshen .

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Turshen, M. (2020). Toward a Universalism of Inclusion. In: Women’s Health Movements. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9467-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9467-6_7

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-9466-9

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