Being normally different? Changes to normalization processes: from alignment to work on the norm

Focusing on the situation in France, the author analyses the link between the notion of 'disability' and the way 'disabled people' are integrated into society and normalized. Throughout the 20th century disability has been defined in France in terms of divergence from a social norm. This definition leads to a normalization process, which consists of bringing disabled people into line with the able-bodied norm. Based on Goffman's analysis, the author shows the political and 'personal' consequences of this normalization. She then describes certain recent evolutions, showing that another form of normalization is progressively emerging, not through alignment with a norm, but through working on the norm. Using Garfinkel's analysis the author shows how this new normalization process transforms the meaning of 'living together'.