Austerity as Bureaucratic Violence: Understanding the Impact of (Neoliberal) Austerity on Disabled People in Sweden

Sociology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003803852110512
Author(s):  
Ida Norberg
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Disability Studies ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Drawing on a framework offered by Bauman and literature from disability studies and other sociological areas, this article argues that the experience of austerity for disabled people in Sweden is one of bureaucratic violence, shaped by disablism. The article aims to broaden the sociological conceptualisation of bureaucratic violence to include disablist austerity within its purview. It utilises fieldwork data from interviews with disabled people in Sweden to explore how welfare bureaucracy isolates and dehumanises disabled people. It also examines how Swedish welfare bureaucracies obscure the impact of austerity on this population. Due to the convergence of neoliberalism and austerity in Sweden, the exploration of bureaucratic violence opens up important questions regarding the Social Darwinist elements in neoliberal theory. Ultimately, bureaucratic violence is a useful concept for sociologists for two reasons: it sheds austerity of its technocratic veneer and connects lived experiences of welfare reform to the lethal consequences of austerity.

For Whose Benefit?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Patrick
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Account ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Welfare Reforms

How is welfare reform anticipated, experienced and reflected upon by those directly affected? What protection do the social rights of citizenship offer to those in receipt on out-of-work benefits? Is a policy focus on moving people into paid employment the right one? What is the impact of the pervasive stigma of benefits receipt on those on out-of-work benefits? And does mainstream politicians’ and the media’s analysis of the policy ‘problem’ of ‘welfare’ coincide with lived experiences? This book answers these questions in exploring how those at the sharp end of welfare reform experience changes to the benefit system. Drawing upon repeat interviews with single parents, disabled people and young jobseekers in the UK, this book explores how the rights and responsibilities of citizenship are experienced on the ground, and whether the welfare state still offers meaningful protection and security to those who rely upon it for all or most of their income. Further, the extent of the gap between lived experiences of ‘welfare’ and the policy rhetoric is illustrated, with a discussion of the consequences of this for the likely success of the welfare reform programme. This book provides a critical account of the welfare reforms undertaken by David Cameron’s UK Governments between 2010 and 2016, and concludes by suggesting an alternative way forward, one with the scope to deliver meaningful social and citizenship inclusion for all.

Mind the gaps: Universal Credit and self-employment in the United Kingdom

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-217
Author(s):  
Kevin Caraher ◽  
Enrico Reuter
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
The Self ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Self Employment ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Roll Out

Self-employment in the United Kingdom rose steadily until 2017, as part of wider changes in labour markets towards more flexible and potentially more vulnerable forms of employment. At the same time, welfare reform has continued under the current and previous governments, with a further expansion of conditionality with respect to benefit recipients. The incremental introduction of Universal Credit is likely to intensify the subjection of vulnerable categories of the self-employed to welfare conditionalities and to thus accentuate the ambivalent nature of self-employment. This article analyses the impact of Universal Credit on the self-employed by first discussing elements of precarity faced by the self-employed, and, second, by exploring the consequences of the roll-out of Universal Credit for those self-employed people who are reliant on the social protection system.

scholarly journals Exploring the social legacy of paralympic games for disabled people

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 136
Author(s):  
Lyusyena Kirakosyan ◽  
Manoel Osmar Seabra Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Central Research ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
Critical Disability Studies ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Media ◽  
Paralympic Games

While the concept of legacy of sporting mega-events has been highly debated and filled with the promise to deliver tangible and measurable benefits, in the context of the Paralympics, defining legacy has been a challenge, due to a lack of universally understood and accepted nature and objectives of the Paralympic Games themselves. Although many authors and disability rights activists expect the Paralympics to accelerate agenda of inclusion of disabled people, a growing number of studies found that the Paralympics misrepresent disability and the reality of disabled people, and consequently reinforce negative stereotypes. Informed by critical disability studies, the central research aim of this article is to examine the social legacies of the 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games for disabled people as identified in the media coverage of three selected periodicals, The Guardian, and O Globo. The article presents a summary of the qualitative analysis of the media coverage related to the topic of Paralympic legacy and disability rights, highlights its central themes and offers a discussion of the findings through the lens of critical disability studies.

scholarly journals “This journey has definitely changed me”: An ethnographic narrative exploring disabled peoples’ lives through embodied experiences and identity negotiation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Callan Sait
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
Embodied Experiences

<p>Following calls from both disability studies and anthropology to provide ethnographic accounts of disability, this thesis presents the narratives of nine people living with disability, focusing on what disability means to them, how it is incorporated into their identities, and how it shapes their lived experiences. While accounts of disability from disability studies often focus on the social model of disability (Shakespeare 2006) and emphasise social stigma and oppression (Goffman 1967, Susman 1994), anthropological accounts often emphasise the suffering and search for cures (Rapp and Ginsburg 2012) that is assumed to accompany disability. Both approaches have their benefits, but neither pay particularly close attention to the personal experiences of individuals, on their own terms.  By taking elements from both disciplines, this thesis aims to present a balanced view that emphasises the lived experiences of individuals with disability, and uses these experiences as a starting point for wider social analysis. The primary focus of this thesis is understanding how disability shapes an individual’s identity: what physical, emotional, and social factors influence how these people are perceived – by themselves and others? Through my participants’ narratives I explore how understandings of normal bodies and normal lives influence their sense of personhood, and investigate the role of stigma in mediating social encounters and self-concepts. Furthermore, I undertake a novel study of the role of technology in the lives of people living with disability. My work explores how both assistive and non-assistive (‘general’) technologies are perceived and utilised by my participants in ways that effect not just the physical experience of disability, but also social perceptions and personal understandings of the body/self.  I argue that although the social model of disability is an excellent analytical tool, and one which has provided tangible benefits for disabled people, its political nature can sometimes lead to a homogenisation of disabled experiences; something which this thesis is intended to remedy by providing ethnographic narratives of disability, grounded in the embodied experiences of individuals.</p>

scholarly journals “This journey has definitely changed me”: An ethnographic narrative exploring disabled peoples’ lives through embodied experiences and identity negotiation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Callan Sait
Keyword(s):  
Disability Studies ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
Embodied Experiences

<p>Following calls from both disability studies and anthropology to provide ethnographic accounts of disability, this thesis presents the narratives of nine people living with disability, focusing on what disability means to them, how it is incorporated into their identities, and how it shapes their lived experiences. While accounts of disability from disability studies often focus on the social model of disability (Shakespeare 2006) and emphasise social stigma and oppression (Goffman 1967, Susman 1994), anthropological accounts often emphasise the suffering and search for cures (Rapp and Ginsburg 2012) that is assumed to accompany disability. Both approaches have their benefits, but neither pay particularly close attention to the personal experiences of individuals, on their own terms.  By taking elements from both disciplines, this thesis aims to present a balanced view that emphasises the lived experiences of individuals with disability, and uses these experiences as a starting point for wider social analysis. The primary focus of this thesis is understanding how disability shapes an individual’s identity: what physical, emotional, and social factors influence how these people are perceived – by themselves and others? Through my participants’ narratives I explore how understandings of normal bodies and normal lives influence their sense of personhood, and investigate the role of stigma in mediating social encounters and self-concepts. Furthermore, I undertake a novel study of the role of technology in the lives of people living with disability. My work explores how both assistive and non-assistive (‘general’) technologies are perceived and utilised by my participants in ways that effect not just the physical experience of disability, but also social perceptions and personal understandings of the body/self.  I argue that although the social model of disability is an excellent analytical tool, and one which has provided tangible benefits for disabled people, its political nature can sometimes lead to a homogenisation of disabled experiences; something which this thesis is intended to remedy by providing ethnographic narratives of disability, grounded in the embodied experiences of individuals.</p>

Conclusion: local social innovation and welfare reform

2019 ◽  
pp. 217-228
Author(s):  
Stijn Oosterlynck ◽  
Andreas Novy ◽  
Yuri Kazepov
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Reform ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

In this chapter, we draw a range of overall conclusions from our case-study based investigation of how local social innovations operate as vehicles of welfare reform. We reflect on the impact of the increased interest of policy-makers in social innovation and on the relationship between social innovation and other social policy paradigms, notably the established paradigm of social protection and its main contender, the social investment paradigm. We also discuss our main findings with regard to the mix of actors, resources and instruments supporting localized social innovations, the multi-scalar nature social innovations, its empowerment dimension and relationship with knowledge. Finally, we look at the consolidation of social innovation in specific welfare-institutional contexts.

scholarly journals Equity/Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in Universities: The Case of Disabled People

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Gregor Wolbring ◽  
Aspen Lillywhite
Keyword(s):  
Academic Staff ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Disabled Students ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

The origin of equity/equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives at universities are rooted in the 2005 Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network) charter from Advance HE in the UK, which has the purpose of initiating actions that generate gender equality in UK universities. Since then, Advance HE also set up a “race charter” to deal with equality issues that are experienced by ethnic staff and students within higher education. Today “equality, diversity and inclusion” and “equity, diversity and inclusion” (from now on both called EDI) are used as phrases by universities in many countries to highlight ongoing efforts to rectify the problems that are linked to EDI of students, non-academic staff, and academic staff, whereby the focus broadened from gender to include other underrepresented groups, including disabled students, disabled non-academic staff, and disabled academic staff. How EDI efforts are operationalized impacts the success and utility of EDI efforts for disabled students, non-academic staff, and academic staff, and impacts the social situation of disabled people in general. As such, we analysed in a first step using a scoping review approach, how disabled students, non-academic staff, and academic staff are engaged with in the EDI focused academic literature. Little engagement (16 sources, some only abstracts, some abstracts, and full text) with disabled students, non-academic staff, and academic staff was found. This bodes ill for the utility of existing EDI efforts for disabled students, non-academic staff, and academic staff, but also suggests an opening for many fields to critically analyse EDI efforts in relation to disabled students, non-academic staff, and academic staff, the intersectionality of disabled people with other EDI groups and the impact of the EDI efforts on the social situation of disabled people beyond educational settings. The problematic findings are discussed through the lens of ability studies and EDI premises, as evident in EDI policy documents, EDI academic, and non-academic literature covering non-disability groups, and policy documents, such as the 2017 “UNESCO Recommendation on Science and Scientific Researchers” and the 1999 “UNESCO World Conference on Sciences” recommendations that engage with the situation of researchers and research in universities.

scholarly journals The Romantic and Sexual Experiences of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in Ontario, Canada.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Santinele Martino
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Disability Studies ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Sexual Experiences ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Critical Disability Studies ◽  
Adults With Intellectual Disabilities

This dissertation will examine the sexual and intimate lives of adults with intellectual disabilitiesby putting into conversation theories from both the sociology of sexualities and the field ofcritical disability studies. The intersection of disabilities and sexualities remains a taboo topic inour society (Esmail et al. 2009; Shakespeare 2014). Research on the intersection of disabilitiesand sexualities remains under-researched and under-theorized in both the sociology of sexualitiesand critical disability studies, resulting in significant gaps in our understanding of the sexual andintimate lived experiences of disabled people (Erel et al. 2011; Kattari 2015; Liddiard 2011,2013; McRuer and Mollow 2012).

Responses of the Occupational Therapy Profession to the Perspective of the Disability Movement, Part 1

1996 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Craddock
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Medical Model ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Social Model Of Disability ◽  
The Social ◽  
Occupational Therapy Interventions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Disability Movement

Since the 1960s, people with disabilities have been developing their own perspective on what it means to be disabled. At the vanguard of this development was the independent living movement which, with other organisations of disabled people, identified disabled people as a group experiencing a particular oppression, disabled by social processes and handicapped by society's lack of commitment to the creation of enabling environments. Part 1 of this article examines the genesis and development of the disability movement. The ideas and analysis that the disability movement has generated and its critique of the medical model of disability are outlined, and its impact — both ideological and legislative — is reviewed. The changing professional philosophy of occupational therapy is described and the impact on it of changing social values is assessed. Part 2 will review the explicit responses of the occupational therapy profession to the disability movement. The validity of the social model of disability for occupational therapy interventions will be considered and an analysis will be presented of the implications for the profession's philosophy and practice of the adoption of the social model of disability in appropriate areas of practice.

scholarly journals Bringing the Pandemic Home: The Shifting Realities of Intimate Violence for Disabled People in the Time of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Z. Shelton
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
The United States ◽  
People Of Color ◽  
Intimate Violence ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Alternative Pathways ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Critical Action ◽  
Trump Administration

In this article, I explore the shifting realities of intimate violence for disabled people in the midst of a global pandemic. I argue that the social and political vulnerabilities of these pandemic times, which have (often deliberately) been compounded by conservative political regimes (like the Trump administration in the United States), make it urgent for anti-violence advocates/activists to root our organizing in the intersectional crip framework of disability justice. I suggest several avenues for intervention and resistance that are grounded in radical visions of care and access advanced by such disability justice theorists as Mia Mingus (2017), Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (2018), and Sins Invalid (2016). In particular, I describe how engaging with these visions and concepts opens up alternative pathways for a more inclusive, liberatory, and transformative anti-violence praxis. My purpose in writing this article is to promote further conversation about the impacts of COVID-19 on intimate violence and to support critical action centered around the lived experiences and access needs of disabled/crip peoples, especially those who have been most directly impacted by the pandemic (e.g., poor and homeless disabled people, queer and trans disabled people, and disabled people of color).

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