Cyborg anxiety: Oscar Pistorius and the boundaries of what it means to be human

Disabled people have a history of being viewed as not entirely human. In the age of spare part surgery and increasing sophistication of drugs, there are increasing concerns about what it means to be human, and, in particular, in what distinguishes people from machines. These concerns have clear resonance with anxieties about disability, and with disabled people being seen as not human. Oscar Pistorius is a disabled athlete whose wish to compete alongside able bodied competitors is causing great concern and worry that his prosthetic legs may give him an unfair – and non‐human – advantage. The case of Pistorius breaks entrenched boundaries and lays bare core concerns in society about disability and the body.