by Ani B. Satz

About Ani B. Satz

Ani B. Satz is Associate Professor of Law at Emory University, with faculty appointments at the Rollins School of Public Health, the Center for Ethics, and the Goizueta Business School. Her work has appeared in numerous books and peer-reviewed journals, including the Michigan Law Review, Washington and Lee Law Review, Emory Law Journal, Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law and Ethics, and Washington Law Review. Her book Disability and Discrimination: Cases and Materials is forthcoming. Satz served as Chair of the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Disability Law for 2009-2010 and is the current Chair of the Section on Law, Medicine and Health Care.

Vulnerability

book Keywords for Disability Studies

All living beings are vulnerable throughout their life span to the effects of biology and environment, such as disease, natural disaster, and war. Vulnerability is thus a shared and constant state among living beings (Fineman 2008, 2010) that cuts across social, geographic, and species boundaries (Satz 2009). The all-encompassing nature of vulnerability, however, is often overlooked. Vulnerability frequently is discussed in social science, public health, and other disciplines in terms of particular characteristics of individuals that render them members of “vulnerable populations.” Women, children, racial minorities, prisoners, elderly persons, and individuals with disabilities all have been viewed as members of vulnerable populations because they may be subject to exploitation, discrimination, or other harm. This perspective confuses vulnerability—which all living beings share—with the fact that some individuals may (or may not) experience vulnerability more acutely than others.