Disabling pasts, enabling futures? How does the changing nature of capitalism impact on the disabled worker and jobseeker?

This article is a theoretical exploration of debates on the impact of industrial capitalism on disabled people. The article draws on fresh historical evidence to question the monolithic interpretations of the impact of capitalism on disabled people. It looks at the role of old social movements and their potential to complement new social movements in supporting the economic position and policy responses to disabled people. Whilst not denying the widespread constructions of disabled people as ‘problems for industrial society’, it highlights the diversity of their experiences and why employment exclusion was never a total phenomenon for disabled people