Accessibility Denied. Understanding Inaccessibility and Everyday Resistance to Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities

Abstract

This book explores the societal resistance to accessibility for persons with disabilities, and tries to set an example of how to study exclusion in a time when numerous policies promise inclusion.With 12 chapters organised in three parts, the book takes a comprehensive approach to accessibility, covering transport and communication, knowledge and education, law and organisation. Topics within a wide cross-disciplinary field are covered, including disability studies, social work, sociology, ethnology, social anthropology, and history. The main example is Sweden, with its implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities within the context of the Nordic welfare state. By identifying and discussing persistent social and cultural conditions as well as recurring situations and interactions that nurture resistance to advancing accessibility, despite various strong laws promoting it, the book's conclusions are widely transferable. It argues for the value of alternating between methods, theoretical perspectives, and datasets to explore how new arenas, resources and technologies cause new accessibility concernsand possibilitiesfor persons living with impairments. We need to be able to follow actors closely to uncover how they feel, act, and argue, but also to connect to wider discursive and institutional patterns and systems. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of disability studies, social work, sociology, ethnology, social anthropology, political science, and organisation studies.

Visions of a City for All

“…The findings also reveal the criticality of the planning phase, where many of the essential design choices are made. Many different actors are involved, and conflicting visions and goals in this phase can explain the existence of excluding environments in the built environment (Egard, 2022;Carvalho de Souza and de Oliveira Post, 2015;Plouin et al, 2021). Furthermore, the findings indicate that the implementation of UD can be a crucial tool and bridge between interests in the planning process, as contemporary planning discourses are at risk of being "disability-blind" when public actors do not step forward and defend public interests (Allmendinger, 2017).…”

“…Old thought patterns are challenged by UD when moving the focus from norm-deviation to diversity (Hedvall, 2022). Despite laws, policies and visions to create a city for all, barriers still exclude people from using buildings and public places (Egard, 2022;Carvalho de Souza and de Oliveira Post, 2015). The lack of accessible environments is still a significant problem, not least in housing (Plouin et al, 2021), creating particular challenges regarding the ageing population, which calls for large-scale and systematic actions (Granbom et al, 2016).…”

Gender representation and policy implementation in the governance of international Paralympic organizations

“…Within this chapter, we explore gender power dynamics within organizations that form part of a marginalized community. We are interested in the underrepresentation of women and lack of action to increase the representation of women within Paralympic organizations that govern sport for people with disabilities (PWD): a social group that continues to face marginalization across all sectors of society (Egard et al, 2022). In doing so, we draw upon Cathy Cohen's (1999) concept of secondary marginalization.…”

Implementation of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in public and private schools in three districts of Uganda

“…In Uganda, like in some developing countries, deaf children begin primary education without a language, and although inclusion would eliminate the discrimination of these children, the reality remains that they lack the language (Khairuddin 2018). Egard, Hansson and Wästerfors (2022) argued that, in addition to lack of language, the loneliness and psychosocial problems experienced by learners with hearing impairment and their increasing poorer academic performance than their peers call for better development and designing of practices that are more inclusive and embracing a diversity of students in schools.…”