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Disabled People and the Post-2015 Development Goal Agenda through a Disability Studies Lens

Author

Listed:
  • Gregor Wolbring

    (Stream of Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, Department Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4N1, Canada)

  • Rachel Mackay

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Theresa Rybchinski

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jacqueline Noga

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the role and visibility of disabled people in the discourses of various global policy processes related to sustainable development and the Post-2015 development agenda. This article makes several recommendations for strengthening the role of disabled people in these discourses. The research addresses the question of how the disability community and sustainable development community relate to each other in these discourses. This study provides quantitative and qualitative data on three aspects of the relationship. One set of data highlights who is seen as a stakeholder in general and the visibility of disabled people in the social sustainability, sustainable consumption, Rio+20 and Post-2015 development agenda proposals discourses and what participants of the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond had to say about the issues of visibility of disabled people in development discourses. A second set of data illuminates the attitudes towards disabled people evident in the SD discourses including through the eyes of the participant of the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. The final set of data compares the goals and actions seen as desirable for the advancement of SD evident in the SD literature covered and the online consultation for a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. This study interpreted the data through a disability studies lens. The study found that disabled people were barely visible to invisible in the SD literature covered, that the goals and actions proposed in the SD discourses are of high relevance to disabled people but that these discussions have generally not been explicitly linked to disabled people. It found further that disabled people have clear ideas why they are invisible, what the problems with development policies are and what needs to happen to rectify the problems. It found also that there was a lack of visibility of various SD areas and goals within the disability discourse. This paper provides empirical data that can be used to further the goal of mainstreaming of disabled people into the SD and Post-2015 development discourses as asked for in various high-level UN documents. However, we posit that the utility of our paper goes beyond the disability angle. Our quantitative data also highlights other forms of social group visibility unevenness in the literature and as such, we argue that the data we present in this paper is also of use for other stakeholders such as youth, women and indigenous people and also for NGOs and policy makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregor Wolbring & Rachel Mackay & Theresa Rybchinski & Jacqueline Noga, 2013. "Disabled People and the Post-2015 Development Goal Agenda through a Disability Studies Lens," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(10), pages 1-31, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:10:p:4152-4182:d:29049
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. repec:ilo:ilowps:447563 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    3. Gregor Wolbring & Brigid Burke, 2013. "Reflecting on Education for Sustainable Development through Two Lenses: Ability Studies and Disability Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-16, May.
    4. AfDB AfDB, 2013. "Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Report 2013 - Executive Summary," MDG Report 471, African Development Bank.
    5. Jacqueline Noga & Gregor Wolbring, 2012. "The Economic and Social Benefits and the Barriers of Providing People with Disabilities Accessible Clean Water and Sanitation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(11), pages 1-19, November.
    6. Gregor Wolbring, 2012. "Expanding Ableism: Taking down the Ghettoization of Impact of Disability Studies Scholars," Societies, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-9, July.
    7. Buckup, Sebastian., 2009. "The price of exclusion : the economic consequences of excluding people with disabilities from the world of work," ILO Working Papers 994475633402676, International Labour Organization.
    8. Yeo, Rebecca & Moore, Karen, 2003. "Including Disabled People in Poverty Reduction Work: "Nothing About Us, Without Us"," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 571-590, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lusha Huang & Newman Lau, 2020. "Enhancing the Smart Tourism Experience for People with Visual Impairments by Gamified Application Approach through Needs Analysis in Hong Kong," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-27, August.
    2. Marco Antonio Cruz-Morato & Josefa García-Mestanza & Carmen Dueñas-Zambrana, 2021. "Special Employment Centres, Time Factor and Sustainable Human Resources Management in Spanish Hotel Industry: Can Corporate Social Marketing Improve the Labour Situation of People with Disabilities?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-24, September.
    3. Aspen Lillywhite & Gregor Wolbring, 2020. "Coverage of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning within Academic Literature, Canadian Newspapers, and Twitter Tweets: The Case of Disabled People," Societies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-27, February.
    4. Aryn Lisitza & Gregor Wolbring, 2016. "Sustainability within the Academic EcoHealth Literature: Existing Engagement and Future Prospects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-22, February.
    5. Gregor Wolbring & Aspen Lillywhite, 2021. "Equity/Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in Universities: The Case of Disabled People," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-34, May.
    6. Chiara Salvatore & Gregor Wolbring, 2021. "Children and Youth Environmental Action: The Case of Children and Youth with Disabilities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-27, September.
    7. Gregor Wolbring & Fatima Jamal Al-Deen, 2021. "Social Role Narrative of Disabled Artists and Both Their Work in General and in Relation to Science and Technology," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, August.
    8. Virgilio Gilart-Iglesias & Higinio Mora & Raquel Pérez-delHoyo & Clara García-Mayor, 2015. "A Computational Method based on Radio Frequency Technologies for the Analysis of Accessibility of Disabled People in Sustainable Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-29, November.
    9. Gregor Wolbring & Lucy Diep, 2016. "The Discussions around Precision Genetic Engineering: Role of and Impact on Disabled People," Laws, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-23, September.

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