Disability, Liberation and Development

Coleridge, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0855981954 ISBN 13: 9780855981952

Publisher: Oxfam, 1993

The situation of disabled people provides a microcosm of the whole development debate and process. Disabled people are oppressed and marginalised in every country of the world, both North and South. Their lives are constrained by social attitudes which stem from fear and prejudice. By probing these prejudices and studying cases where they have been overcome, we gain an insight into the processes of liberation and empowerment that lie at the heart of any development message.

Review:

The message of this ground-breaking book is for us all to liberate ourselves from the forces that would normalise us into an unjust society. It calls us to embrace diversity and work together to create a fairer, more flexible social order in which all people - whatever our strengths and weaknesses - can live with dignity and self-determination. David Werner, author of Where There is no Doctor (Hesperian Foundation).