Writing histories of disability in India: strategies of inclusion

• Published in: Disability & society Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 419 - 431
• Main Author: Buckingham, Jane
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 01.06.2011
• Subjects: Access to Education; Attitudes toward Disabilities; capability theory; Caste; Caste Systems; Civil Rights; Colonialism; Community; Decolonization; Disabilities; Disability; disability history; Economic Factors; Economic integration; Empowerment; Equal Education; Females; Foreign Countries; Gender; Gender Bias; Historical analysis; Historical Interpretation; History; India; Marginality; Oppression; Physically Handicapped; Poverty; Sex; Social Attitudes; Social Bias; Social Class; social inclusion; Social integration; Stigma; Welfare; World History; India
• ISSN: 0968-7599; 1360-0508
• DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2011.567792

Existing historical understandings of disability are dominated by European and American experience and tend to assume Judeo-Christian ideas of stigma and exclusion are universal norms. This paper emphasises the unique experience of disability in India and the role of poverty, gender, caste and community in compounding the marginalisation felt by people with disabilities. It argues, with Kudlick, that 'disability' is as important as 'race' or 'gender' as an analytic tool in the historical understanding of oppression and disempowerment. Moreover, the paper sees reclaiming history and insisting on inclusion of the experience of disability in the writing of Indian history as a critical factor in affirming the right of Indians with disabilities to full social and economic participation. Finally it emphasises the need for 'disability history' to look beyond colonial and post-colonial welfare paradigms and to investigate disability as an aspect of rights based history.