War and Health “The Civilian Disabled”: War and its role in the disability rights movement Gareth Millward – gareth.millward@lshtm.ac.uk – Centre for History in Public Health Improving health worldwide http:://history.lshtm.ac.uk

Boer War field hospital, c. 1900. Image from Wellcome images Disabled people protest British welfare reforms, May 2011 Image from RNIB (via Flickr)

The Boer War Substantial number of recruits turned away on health grounds. Public health campaigns of the early twentieth century tied into Empire. Driven by the state’s fear of the “degeneration” of the working classes. A London slum, 1920s. Image from Wellcome images

The First World War John Galsworthy, author of the Forsyte Saga, in Reveille: Devoted to the Disabled Sailor & Soldier, 1 (London: HMSO, 1918) Temporary prosthetic limb, early C20. Image from Wellcome images American rehabilitation during WW1. Image from the National Medical Museum (via Flickr)

The Second World War Built upon rehabilitation programmes from the First World War Also tied into contemporary working-class demands for reform. Creation of NHS, National Insurance and repeal of the Poor Law provided much better coverage for disabled people A lorry leaving a Remploy factory in Springburn, c. 1978 Image from Wikicommons

“The Civilian Disabled” Entitlement to support based on insurance status No support as-of-right for married women “Cinderella services” had been sorely neglected Creation of Disablement Income Group in 1965 seen as the birth of the modern disability movement Lord William Beveridge (1869-1963) Image from Wikicommons

The incomes approach Support should be based on need alone Utilised expertise of post-war social reforming academics as well as disabled people themselves Played a central role in defining “disability” in government policy Between 1970 and 1977, a host of new social security benefits were created, as well as the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 Towards a National Disability Income, the Disablement Income Group’s main policy document. Taken from Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick.

Civil rights, not charity Poverty seen as a symptom of the wider problems faced by disabled people Disability framed as discrimination against those with impairments Following the Committee on Restrictions Against Disabled People (1982), clamour for anti-discrimination legislation Government favoured “education and persuasion”, but Acts were passed in 1981 and 1986 Book cover of The Politics of Disablement which was the first to elaborate on the “social model” with academic detail. Published 1990.

The Vietnam War Vietnam veterans had secured significant concessions from Republican governments ADA (1990) served as blueprint for UK activists Combined with scandal over improper behaviour, a limited Act was passed in 1995 President George Bush Sr. signing the Americans With Disabilities Act 1990. Image from Wikicommons.