Disability and democracy in Cambodia: an integrative approach to community building and civic engagement

Abstract

The political framework through which the various communities of disabled persons in Cambodia advocate for and claim their rights is complex and confusing. Both governmental and non‐governmental actors engage this political framework through the mobilization of persons from the various disabled communities, competing in the civic sphere through issue‐oriented advocacy in ways that seek to influence the process of democratic governance. While the status of disabled rights in Cambodia is still comparatively weak, it is argued here that this civic engagement has allowed disabled communities to find common cause with non‐disabled persons and groups in the project of deepening the roots of democracy in Cambodia. This article discusses the demographic composition of disability, the framework of political action that addresses disability issues and the practice of civic engagement and activism by disabled and non‐disabled communities in Cambodia.

Keywords:

• human rights
• civil society
• democracy
• identity

Notes

1. Article 74 is embedded in a series of articles in the constitution pertaining to public health, but it is unclear even in context whether state obligations to the disabled refers to disabled communities in general or, more likely, to those disabled persons and their families whose disabilities stem from acts carried out in the service of the state.