Disability, Globalization and Human Rights

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has facilitated the understanding that disability is both a human rights and development issue. In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the focus on disability inclusion has become increasingly important in the discourse of international and national efforts for "leaving no one behind", the motto of the SDGs. This book discusses pertinent and emerging themes such as disability rights, globalization, inequalities, international cooperation and representation.

Evidence which has been obtained tends to show that persons with disabilities have been disproportionately left behind without proper representation, participation and inclusion. This book critically investigates the gaps at different levels, from top to bottom, and as importantly, within the global disability movement, for the realization of global disability rights, and theorizes the intersection of disability, globalization and human rights. Empirical case studies from different countries and contexts are introduced to deepen analysis on theories of critical disability studies from a global perspective.

Co-edited by a disability researcher and the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability, this book will be of interest to all students, academics, policy makers and practitioners working to advance the cause of disability rights around the world.

Hisayo Katsui is Associate Professor in Disability Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She has been a board member of the Nordic Network of Disability Research; an editor of the Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research; chairperson of the Finnish Society for Disability Research; and a permanent expert to the Finnish Advisory Board for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Previously, she worked for the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability, Shuaib Chalklen. She also worked at the Abilis Foundation, a Finnish grant-making organisation of persons with disabilities, formerly led by the late Kalle Könkkölä. Her research interests are disability rights realization in practice as well as participatory research approaches. She has conducted research on disabilities in Central Asia, Ethiopia, Finland, Nepal and Uganda, the findings of which are included as independent case study chapters in this book.

Shuaib Chalklen is currently working for the African Disability Forum as the regional coordinator for their Inclusion Works Program. He previously worked as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability for the period 2009-2014. Prior to this he worked in the Office of the President in South Africa, in the Policy and Advisory Services Unit as the Chief Director for Governance and Administration. He was also responsible for developing South Africa’s first policy on disability. During his term as UN Special Rapporteur he established the African Disability Forum and served as its first Chairperson.