Latin American Perspectives on Disability and Disability Studies
Raul
Mideros, University of Leeds
Co-author(s): Beatriz Miranda, Sandra Oliver, Rosana Ferreira Sampaio
Abstract
This symposium takes the form of a round-table / panel session, in which three contributors from different Latin American countries will present and discuss cultural, theoretical and political perspectives on disability. The session forms part of a British Academy funded collaboration between the University of Leeds (UK) and the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar (Ecuador). New approaches in Latin America have highlighted disability as an issue of human and civil rights, yet everyday constructions of disability draw on indigenous (Andean), European (colonial) and Latin (postcolonial) traditions of thought. Familiar Western influences include religious (Christian), secular (rational individualism) and scientific (biomedical) models of disability. To what extent do these European discourses influence understandings of disability in Latin America, and how do indigenous beliefs co-exist? The panel will include four discussants from Ecuador, Mexico and Brasil.
NB: this abstract is submitted on behalf of Dr Mideros by Mark Priestley (the UK host at the University of Leeds) to whom all correspondence should be addressed.