Disabled by Nature? The Care Economy: History, Critique and Ethnography

This thesis explores the relationship of thr care economy to disability through both an ethnography of an assisted living program offered to students with disabilities living in residence at Carleton University, as well as a historical and theoretical exploration of the relation of the care economy to human vulnerability. This thesis posits the interrelatuon of the constructs of care and of disability, and explores, analyzes, and delineates how that interrelation affects both care workers and their clients. It engages and critiques the British Social Model of disability through theories of political economy, the social construction of nature, and economic anthropology.