When the state does not care: disability rights in a context of multi-layered crises, instability and disablism

Grace Khawam and Supriya Akerkar

Chapter 10 in Research Handbook on Disability Policy, 2023, pp 118-134 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Although the UNCRPD is the guarantor for the rights of persons with disabilities, it is critiqued for conceptualizations of individualized rights, in stable contexts where rights are state-protected. We investigate how disability rights can be advanced in unstable and crisis-affected contexts in the Global South. We use the case of Lebanon, which has experienced multi-layered crises, has not ratified the UNCRPD, and has outdated policies based on charity-medical models of disability. We argue that, in a disablist and unstable state, any progress made is threatened by the absence of institutionalization of rights, and interrogate the limitations of the UNCRPD. Through a critical policy review and interviews with self-advocates and disability activists, we suggest a new model of action for disability rights affirmation by strengthening community governance, initiatives and networks; solidarity and joint actions between disability and wider civil society groups; international advocacy; and the political identity of the disability movement.

Keywords: Development Studies; Economics and Finance; Research Methods; Sociology and Social Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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