Three Dimensions in the Register of Shame

This article highlights the ways in which people with disabilities who have recently been involved in programs set up by the Swiss compulsory Disability Insurance (DI) refer to the register of shame in their discourse. It pinpoints three dimensions of this register: social position, social judgment and mirror-effect and shows that while referrals to shame do not constitute a direct challenge of ableist hierarchies, they do displace the meanings attached to disability.