Citizenship and Disabled People: A Cause for Concern

Abstract

The title of the chapter indicates serious concerns over the position and experiences of disabled people in relation to the question of citizenship. Given the complexity of the issues involved, combined with the limitation of space, it is necessary to control the number of factors to be explored. Many of the contributors to this book have discussed some of the key assumptions and historical antecedents associated with notions of ‘democracy’ and ‘citizenship’ and thus I do not propose to give much attention to these matters. Such material provides the theoretical context against which this discussion will be developed.