THE PERSON AND THE STIGMA BIOPOLITICAL QUESTIONS

The essay intends to resume deliberation on the political dimension of illness and disability. The human person, when marred by fragility and vulnerability, is exposed to various forms of stigma, which become evident in crisis situations. The demand for social recognition and the introduction of various forms of classification, which should guarantee and extend the processes of inclusion and care, end up obscuring the very meaning and worth of the human person, diminished to capacities. The identity of the sick person, and the person with disabilities, remains problematic in the complex dialectics of mutual recognition given the absence of normativity regarding the person as otherness and irreducible subjectivity.