Urban infrastructures of ablement: The historical production of the “normal” pedestrian in Buenos Aires

Abstract

The fields of ability and ableism studies advance previous work in disability studies, which shows how disability is socially produced, to focus on how the abilities of non-disabled subjects are also produced. That is, how do social contexts selectively support, enable or enhance the capacities of certain body-minds? Geography can play a key role in these explorations by interrogating the role of space in these processes of ablement. This article aims to uncover the taken-for-granted ways in which urban infrastructures produce a “normal” pedestrian with the illusory ability to roam the city unaided, while simultaneously not enabling and even restricting the mobility of others. To do so, it addresses infrastructures such as sidewalks and street crossing systems which consolidated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. An analysis of municipal documents shows how walking was made possible due to these infrastructures, which eliminated environmental obstacles and protected people from traffic. But this enablement did not reach all body-minds, as disabled people were expected to be elsewhere, in segregated institutions or domestic spaces. For this analysis, the article draws from disability geography, ability and ableism studies, science and technology studies, and Foucauldian notions of biopower.