National or regional studies of disability offer an important opportunity to understand historical, social and cultural aspects of disability, as well as being a way to use the perspective of disability to better understand the region itself. When they come from the Global South, these studies also offer an important opportunity to question theoretical and international frameworks. The position of India is particularly interesting in terms of its size and diversity of cultures, languages and development. Its regional position means that studies here are also relevant to Bangladesh, Pakistan and other neighbouring countries. As well as its diversity, India is going through rapid social and economic change and capturing the intersection of these changes with disability is as important as it is challenging.
Rethinking Disability in India by Anita Ghai is an important contribution to understanding the lives of disabled people in India, to disability theory and to a range of social issues within India. Ghai’s work is frank and personal, building on her own biography to ask the ‘most critical questions’ (16) and to deconstruct theoretical divisions. With her extensive scholarship, she brings a mass of evidence in historical, social, policy and analytical terms to understanding disability in India and its relation with different sectors. India gives a rich tapestry to show the multiplicity of the disability experience, and this is one of the key contributions of her book.
Starting out with Ghai’s biography and cultural background of disability within India, the book establishes the range of dimensions relevant to disability, ranging from life trajectory, religious texts, social attitudes and practices to spiritual values. Following on from this Ghai explores official and unofficial identifications of who is disabled, and the marginalisation of disabled lives in India. The second half of the book builds on this beginning by exploring the ways in which disability raises questions on the right to life, and the final three chapters deal with the theoretical contexts of disability, disability identity and, finally, the place of disability studies.
Throughout her work Ghai is using diverse sources and epistemologies, ranging from psychological introspection to accounts of personal experiences, policies across Indian institutions, perspectives of activists and a range of academic sources from disability studies and beyond. As such the book is addressed to many audiences – academics inside and outside India, practitioners and activists within and beyond the disability movement, and anyone who might have an interest in the Indian subcontinent. She asserts the social model of disability and its important and relevance to disabled people and a wide range of social issues, at the same time as questioning and interrogating its utility.
Particularly important is her treatment of gender, which is characteristic of the way she uses this range of perspectives to ‘rethink’ disability in India. Bringing out different concerns and experiences of disabled women asserts the multiplicity of disability and its multiple relevance to wider concerns. The engagement with gender, and women’s movements, brings questions to our perceptions on disability, new dimensions for conceptions and engagements on gender issues, and a thoughtful reflection on meaningful inclusion through identity politics. In this and many other areas her work is full of insights and analysis on how different areas and sources of knowledge can be linked.
The ambition and the scope of the work are vast: to embody the theoretician, practitioner and activist; to engage with western academia, Indian history and disabled people’s lives; and to write simultaneously for academics in the Global North as well as grassroots activists. As a result, this book should be seen as a contribution to a process of rethinking and reconnecting many issues related to disability and India. It is a considerable and valuable foundation for future work in a range of areas.
Two areas in particular struck me as ripe for further exploration.
First, the rapid changes in Indian society and economy and the new hi-tech India. Globalisation is presented in terms of its ‘dark face’ (133) and negative consequences for disabled people. But multinational companies in India have also taken initiatives for disability inclusion; there are new understandings of disability; and there are opportunities and risks for disabled people. Michele Friedner’s work on emerging deaf culture and community in urban India is an important contribution that should be explored further.
Secondly, as a practitioner myself, I did wonder whether such a deep rethinking of disability would lead to different policy analysis and recommendations. In many areas (especially inclusive education), Ghai offers careful perspectives and critiques on current policy. But in other areas the analysis does not seem taken to its conclusion. One example of this is in terms of the important issues on understanding disability: the chapter that deals with them ends with principles from the United Nations’ Convention. This does not answer how to apply these in the complex environment that was described. Part of the challenge here is a challenge from the context of the disability sector in India, which perhaps has not had the resources to think these questions through to their end; as such it cannot be addressed by one thinker alone.
Naturally, in a work of such scope that raises so many issues in a detailed way, there are some further quibbles. Some of these would have been fixed by more thorough editing, because there are typographical errors in this edition. Also, in some places the volume of information the author deals with ends up in verbosity, multi-page paragraphs, and a difficulty in following the argument. This book is intended for a wide audience, but unfortunately the density of its prose may limit its appeal.
This book richly deserves this appeal, for readers in many different places. Rethinking Disability in India is a resource, inspiration and challenge to those interested in disability, identity politics and policy, gender and/or South Asia.
Independent Consultant
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© 2016 Peter Fremlin
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2016.1221665