The Exclusionary Nationalist Roots of Ability Myths in a Global Context

• In Event: Developments in the Politics of Christian Nationalism

Abstract

This chapter demonstrates the motivations behind the main empirical question of a broader book project. By explaining the historical power of (dis)ability myths in nation-making and the role of these myths in establishing national belonging – and more crucially, exclusion from membership – this chapter explores how five different liberal societies developed and embedded ascriptive forms of exclusion into their liberal democratic political and social cultures. The authors chart the deep history of justifying ascriptive nationalisms through myths of ability and link them to restrictive political attitudes toward important issues of the day such as immigration, criminal justice, and reproductive rights. This chapter reveals the dominance of exclusion-justifying ability myths, their linkage to ideas about the genuine nature of national identity, and how the resulting nationalisms become so entrenched throughout time in liberal democratic societies that they often go unnoticed by everyday liberal democrats. The countries analyzed include the US, Australia, Denmark, Austria, and Slovenia.

Authors

• Ana Bracic, Michigan State University

• Mackenzie Israel-Trummel, William & Mary

• Allyson Shortle, University of Oklahoma