Against Technoableism
Rethinking Who Needs Improvement
“Technoableism is a belief in the power of technology that considers the elimination of disability a good thing, something we should strive for.” Ashley Shew’s brisk and funny treatise provides a clear framework for assessing and interrupting the ways that technology and ableism conspire against human flourishing. Shew centers the lived experience of disabled people (including herself) and is unflinching in her predictions for all our futures: not only is disability a natural and unavoidable part of our own small lives, it’s also the state of the planet we live in. Rather than trying to abolish disability—an impossibility—Shew argues that we need to adapt to live with and alongside it. And she shows how much richer our lives will be when we do.