A call to place disability at the center of climate and disaster responses Every disaster is a disability disaster, argues Angela Frederick. Disabled Power tells the stories of Texans with disabilities who endured the 2021 Texas power crisis, which forced millions of Texas residents to endure a dayslong winter storm without heat or water. Based on 58 in-depth interviews with disabled Texans and parents of disabled children, Frederick highlights how disabled people and those with chronic health conditions are uniquely harmed when basic infrastructure such as power and water systems fail. She argues that the vulnerability people with disabilities experienced during this disaster was not an inevitable consequence of individual disabled bodies. Rather, disability vulnerability was "produced" by policies that "disabled" vital infrastructure. Frederick also emphasizes another meaning of the phrase "disabled power:" the individual and collective resilience and creativity Texans with disabilities exercised to survive the disaster. Despite common perceptions of people with disabilities as passive victims, Frederick shows how many found strategies to survive and to provide and receive care within their communities. Ultimately, the implications of this disaster extend far beyond Texas and underscore our increased vulnerability to infrastructural failures as extreme weather events become more common. Disabled Power offers a blueprint for reimagining vulnerability and resilience to center people with disabilities in disaster research and emergency response.
Angela Frederick is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas at El Paso.
"When the power is out, the water frozen, and the world at a standstill, citizens suffer unequally. Disabled Power brings the disparities to life. Her detailed statistics cause disquiet, while individual stories drive home the point: infrastructure, government plans, and academic post-mortems fail miserably to address the resilience required for those living with disability. Yet Fredrick uncovers hacks and informal networks that offer a roadmap for preparing for future disasters. " - Julie A. Cohn, author of The Grid: Biography of an American Technology "Disabled Power is a gripping account of disaster, the utter necessity of a strong and interconnected infrastructure, and the high stakes peril disabled people are plunged into without it. Through stories and analysis, Frederick shows both the heavy price we pay for our illusions of independence, and how disabled people survive through ingenious, life sustaining creativity and collective care." - Laura Mauldin, creator of the the website Disability at Home and author of In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories From the Frontlines of Americas Caregiving Crisis
