The emancipation of disability studies in Portugal

Despite the interest of the social sciences in issues of exclusion and inequality, the question of disability, as a key issue of reflection, remains absent from many academic areas. The emergence of disability studies owes much to contexts in which the activism of disabled people has revealed the st...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fontes, Fernando (author)
Other Authors: Martins, Bruno Sena (author), Hespanha, Pedro (author)
Format: article
Language:eng
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10316/33314
Country:Portugal
Oai:oai:estudogeral.sib.uc.pt:10316/33314
Description
Summary:Despite the interest of the social sciences in issues of exclusion and inequality, the question of disability, as a key issue of reflection, remains absent from many academic areas. The emergence of disability studies owes much to contexts in which the activism of disabled people has revealed the structural conditions that oppress and neglect experiences of disability. Bearing in mind the specific features of the Portuguese socio-political environment, two lines of inquiry are developed in this text. Firstly, what are the challenges faced by Portuguese academics in making disability a central issue, enabling it to confront the silencing of the voices and experiences of disabled people in society? Secondly, how important is it for research to engage with an ethical and political paradigm that supports the rights of disabled people?