Contesting disabling conditions of life in the Global South: disability activists’ and service providers’ experiences in Guyana

Abstract

This article addresses an important gap in our understanding of issues of impairment and disability, namely challenges facing disabled activists and service providers in the majority world context of the developing nation of Guyana. The article argues that developing a southern standpoint on impairment, disability, disability activism and service provision requires a reframing of disability issues as matters of distributive justice and not only human rights. Challenges facing disability activists and service providers in Guyana included trying to combat internalized ableism, financial and cultural barriers to political engagement and visibility, tensions in claiming or rejecting disabled identities and difficulties in accessing foreign aid funding for disability initiatives. The article concludes by stressing the importance of rethinking how we do disability studies so that it allows critical analysis of the dynamics of a global capitalist corporeal class order in the context of the majority world.

Keywords:

• impairment
• disability activism and service provision
• Global South
• distributive justice
• Guyana

Acknowledgements

The author sincerely thanks all interviewees for sharing their stories of life with impairment and disability and challenges in struggling for a more enabling society. The author is also indebted to the Guyanese women who assisted in conducting this research: Cora Belle, Halima Khan and Norma Adrian. Thanks also to the referees for their thoughtful and constructive comments on an earlier draft.

Additional information

Funding

Thanks to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for funding this project.