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Race, Ethnicity and Disability: Charting Complex and Intersectional Terrains

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Disability in the Global South

Abstract

Disabled people around the world are often defined in terms of their impairments or conditions, with little thought to intersections with race and ethnicity or other socially constructed identities and experiences Using intersectionality, this chapter asks: Whose bodies matter? Who do states protect? How do disabled people contribute? and Of what benefit are human rights in an intersectional approach? We also ask in what ways do racialised relations of power intersect with disability to construct and reinforce global and local inequalities? Through this we expose critical assumptions about and complexities in exploring race, ethnicity and disabilities in the global South and between the global South and North.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As co-authors we each reflect different locations in the diverse power relations in the world. Stienstra is a professor in disability studies, racialised white, settler and, perhaps unexpectedly, first-generation immigrant. She has written previously on race and ethnicity as it intersects with disability , and uses intersectionality extensively. Nyerere came to Canada as a refugee from Sudan , is racialised black, completed his master’s degree in disability studies and is currently a disability service provider. His thesis was on the situation of people with disabilities in Sudan. He is actively involved with the South Sudanese diaspora in Canada.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Deborah Stienstra

  2. Independent Scholar, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Leon Nyerere

Authors
  1. Deborah Stienstra
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  2. Leon Nyerere
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Correspondence to Deborah Stienstra .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Global Disability Research, The Critical Institute, Attard, Malta

    Shaun Grech

  2. Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, New South Wales, Australia

    Karen Soldatic

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Stienstra, D., Nyerere, L. (2016). Race, Ethnicity and Disability: Charting Complex and Intersectional Terrains. In: Grech, S., Soldatic, K. (eds) Disability in the Global South. International Perspectives on Social Policy, Administration, and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42488-0_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42488-0_16

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-42488-0

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