Book
The new genocide of handicapped and afflicted people
This monograph is based largely upon Wolfensberger’s social role valorisation theory, and makes challenging reading. Wolfensberger names the “new genocide” as ‘deathmaking’, which is “any action or pattern of actions which either directly or indirectly brings about, or hastens, the death of a person or group.” He examines the values in Western society which facilitate this, asking the question “how can one entire collectivity of people come to the point where it is prepared to do grave harm to an entire other collectivity and perhaps even deprive it of life”? The how involves a look at; how people get devalued (including an historical overview); how this jeopardises a person’s life; and how such processes are disguised and legitimised in Western society. Lastly, he looks at the action implications of this information for us. Keywords: Ethics, Theory
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