Dinu situates his analysis of national constructions of dis/ability within the communist regimes of Eastern Europe. His purpose is to interrogate the construction and management of the dis/abled in a non-liberal-democratic government. Dinu examines “defectology”—the medical model and psychology of dis/ability that held sway in communist Eastern Europe during the 20th century and especially after 1945. As the name implies, defectology characterized dis/abilities of all types as deficits requiring medical intervention. Dinu asserts that this model arose as a byproduct of the communist ideal of the virile, healthy, and muscular “New Man,” a cultural icon popularized throughout the Soviet bloc. When measured against the New Man, the disabled fell short. Accordingly, they were subjected to physical rehabilitation to achieve social rehabilitation as productive members of the communist workforce.