A Politics of Hope in the Narratives of People with Dementia

Major Research Paper (Master's), Critical Disability Studies, School of Health Policy and Management,Faculty of Health, York UniversityThe social model of disability challenges the notion of disability as a personal tragedy and reason for despair. Seven autobiographies written by people with dementia are analysed within the social model of disability for evidence of hope and hopelessness. Categories of hope and hopelessness delineated in this research include hope/despair for a cure, hope/despair for social inclusion and involvement, hope/despair related to voice (including being heard and taken seriously), hope/despair related to supports, hope/despair related to personal development, control, and survival, and other evidence of hope and hopelessness. An examination of how political hope expressed within these narratives contributes to the collective hope of people with dementia is included, as well as an exploration of implications for the larger disability rights movement