Addiction in Deep Space Nine: What the Dominion teaches us about A Dis/Ability as an Intersectional Spectrum

Abstract

It is easy to overlook Garak, Damar, and the Jem’Hadar as examples of disability in Star Trek, given how underacknowledged and under-theorised addiction is both in relation to the series and from a disability studies perspective more broadly. This paper will demonstrate that addiction is, by any widely accepted definition, a disability and thinking about it as such has the potential to nuance and deepen our understanding of how disability is defined and stigma propagated. Deep Space Nine illustrates how, following Waldschmidt’s configuration of the cultural model, dis/ability can best be understood as a culturally specific, intersectional spectrum. The spacefaring world of Star Trek – and in particular the complex interplay between race, gender, and varying cultures on display in DS9 – provides an ideal opportunity to explore this. In particular, this paper argues that the series illustrates how the ‘norm’ – so often treated as a cultural monolith – can better be understood as constructed of two connected, yet distinct, phenomena: the ‘real’ expectations of individuals and overarching cultural ideals. I argue that it is the former which dictates whether an impairment is perceived as a disability, whilst the individual’s perceived relationship to the latter determines their experience of stigma.