Lecture on Disability in the Indian Context

Speaker's Background

• Interest in disability: A decade long
• Initial focus: Gender and women's movements in India
  • PhD on gender and development issues
  • Focus on indigenous and tribal women
• Shift to disability studies: Accidental, due to a lack of literature on women with disabilities

Initial Observations

• Disability often ignored in sociology and anthropology
• Primarily studied by social workers, medical professionals
• Reality of women with disabilities in patriarchal contexts like Haryana
  • Surprisingly found women thriving despite state absence

State Policy and Law

• Limited state presence in disability issues
  • Some disability pensions
  • Minimal institutional support
• PWD Act of 1995: Developmentalist approach, not rights-based
  • Accessibility services, job reservations, limited pensions, rehabilitation
• 2006 national policy: First mention of women and children with disabilities
• Post 2008 and UN CRPD: Catalyzed rights activism and consultations

Disability Rights Movement

• Fragmented yet existent for two decades
• Initially rhetorical; increasing academic intervention
• Recent politics more research-based, but documentation lacking
• Political context: Disability bills and laws highly contested

Cultural and Social Models of Disability

• Various ways of conceptualizing disability:
  • Medical Model: Focus on individual impairment
  • Social Model: Structures are oppressive
  • Post-structuralist Model: Importance of the body, pain, and medical interaction
  • Post-colonial & Feminist Perspectives: Context of developing countries, gender intersections

Indian Context of Disability

• Cultural Terms: Local definitions like 'Ashrat' (dependent) and broader categories like 'Dukhyari' (saddened)
• Official definitions: Limited to seven categories (blindness, low-vision, leprosy, etc.)
• Census and NSSO data on disability: Inconsistent and contested
• Disability as an evolving concept: Recognizes biopsychosocial aspects
• Variable constructions based on age, gender, caste, class, region, religion, rural-urban divide

Family and Community Role

• Families as both altruistic and oppressive
• Charity's role: Often empowering in absence of state support
• Individual vs. relational aspect of disability
• Cultural competence: Varies with context, e.g., rural vs. urban

Media and Awareness

• Bollywood's role in raising awareness
• Mainstream media discussing disability issues
• Disability in census from 2011

Conceptual Challenges

• Stigma: Varies and is context-specific
• Exclusion and Inclusion: Influenced by multiple factors like caste, gender, disability type

Emerging Identity Politics

• Varied by geography: South India more progressive
• New identities around state provisions like pensions, microfinance, reservations
• Leadership predominantly urban, middle-class, and male
• Contestation among disabled groups and parent activists
• Fractured identities: Intersectionality crucial for understanding

Final Thoughts

• Need for intersectional lens
• Rights vs. survival issues vary widely among the disabled

Thank you.