Disability and the Victorians: Attitudes, interventions, legacies

by Iain Hutchison (Editor), Jaipreet Virdi (Editor), Martin Atherton (Editor)

The prejudices and challenges that people with impairments face in modern society are a direct consequence of the medicalisation of disability that occurred during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This collection investigates how and why the legacies of Victorian attitudes and interventions continue into the present century. Taking a wide range of physical, sensory and mental impairments into consideration, the contributors show how Victorian philanthropic interventions in the fields of education, social policy, care provision, employment and employability sought to improve the lives of those who found themselves marginalised and excluded from mainstream society. Whether this exclusion resulted from illness, injury, disease or impairment, clear distinctions were made between those deemed able to be restored to societal norms of ability and behaviour and those who could not.

Offering an illustration of how Victorian attitudes and interventions were exported throughout the British Empire and beyond, this collection offers a timely and valuable insight into the shadow cast by our Victorian forebears.

Genres: Nonfiction

216 pages, Hardcover

Published March 19, 2020