Political and Economic Transition of People with Disabilities Related to Globalization
This paper analyzes the political and economic issues
that people with disabilities face related to globalization; how people
with disabilities have been adapting globalization and surviving under
worldwide competition system. It explains that economic
globalization exacerbates inequality and deprivation of people with
disabilities. The rising tide of neo-liberal welfare policies emphasized
efficiency, downsized social expenditure for people with disabilities,
excluded people with disabilities against labor market, and shifted
them from welfare system to nothing. However, there have been
people with disabilities' political responses to globalization, which are
characterized by a global network of people with disabilities as well as
participation to global governance. Their resistance can be seen as an
attempt to tackle the problems that economic globalization has
produced. It is necessary paradigm shift of disability policy from
dependency represented by disability benefits to independency
represented by labor market policies for people with disabilities.
[1] Market fundamentalism (or free-market fundamentalism) is a term coined
by George Soros, to criticize the belief that the free market is always
beneficial to society. As it is a pejorative term, the people and
organizations it refers to will generally reject the label. The meaning can
be considered economic liberalism or laissez-faire capitalism applied
logically and consistently in all fields.
[2] Neo-liberalism represents the antithesis of Keynesian social democratic
policy. It is a historically-specific reemergence of economic liberalism
among economic scholars and policy-makers during the 1970s and
through at least the late-1990s, and possibly into the present
[3] Sen, A.: Why human security? Presentation paper at the International
Symposium on Human Security in Tokyo, July, 2000.
[4] Hurrell, A. and Woods, N.: Inequality, globalization, and world politics.
Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
[5] Dicken, P.: Global Shift: The internationalization of economic activity.
2nd ed., New York: Guilford Press, 1992.
[6] Bretherton, C. and Ponton, G.: Global Politics: an introduction. Oxford,
UK; Cambridge, Mass., USA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
[7] Robertson, R.: Globalization: social theory and global culture. London:
Sage, 1992.
[8] Shaw, M.: Global Society and International Relations: sociological
concepts and political perspectives. Cambridge, UK; Cambridge, MA:
Polity Press, 1994.
[9] Neufeld, M.: Theorizing Globalization: Toward a Politics of Resistance –
Neo-Gramscian Response to Mathias Albert, Global Society: Journal of
Interdisciplinary International Relations, Vol. 15: 93-106, 2001.
[10] United Nations: UN Millennium Report: Globalization and Governance.
Eds. Kofi A. Annan. (Available at: http://www.un.org/millen-nium/sg/
report/) 2000.
[11] International Labor Office: Globalization, Labor and Migration:
Protection is paramount, Perspectives on Labor Migration 3E,
International Migration Program, Geneva: International Labor Office,
2003.[12] Sandmo, A.: Globalization and the Welfare State: More Inequality – Less
Redistribution?. Discussion Paper at the Conference of the European
Institute of Social Security, Bergen, Sep., 2001
[13] Stienstra, D.: DisAbling globalization: rethinking global political
economy with a disability lens. Global Society, Vol.16: 109-121, 2002.
[14] Stone, E.: Disability and development in the majority world. In: Disability
and Development: Learning from Action and Research on Disability in
the Majority World. Eds. E. Stone. Leeds: Disability Press, 1999.
[15] Charlton, J.I.: Nothing about us without us. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1998.
[16] Binde, J., and Appadurai, A.: Globalization. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press, 2001.
[17] Chossudovsky, M.: The Globalization of Poverty. London: Zed Books,
1997.
[18] Sklair, L.: Sociology of the Global System. 2nd ed., Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1995.
[19] Sassen, S.: Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: New Press,
1998.
[20] The Povertization of Women: A Global Phenomenon. Nichols-Casebolt
et al. Affilia. 1994; 9-29.
[21] Fischer, A., Franke, K. and Rompel, M. (Eds.): Disability and
Development Policy Paper. Eschborn, Germany: Deutsche Gesellschaft
fur Technische Zusammenarbeit. 2006.
[22] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Transforming
Disability into Ability: Policies to promote work and income security for
disabled people, 2003.
[23] Rodrik, D.: Sense and nonsense in the globalization debate. Foreign
Policy, Summer107: 19-37, 1997.
[24] Holden, C. and Beresford, P.: Globalization and Disability. In: Disability
Studies Today, eds. C. Barnes, M. Oliver, & L. Barton. Cambridge:
Blackwell Publishers, 2002.
[25] Cox, R.H.: The Consequences of Welfare Reform: How Conceptions of
Social Rights are changing. International Social Policy 27: 1-14. 1998.
[26] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Social
expenditure Statistics of OECD Members Countries, 2003.
[27] Elwan, A.: Poverty and Disability: A Survey of the Literature Social
Protection Discussion Paper No. 9932. The World Bank Group, Dec.
1999.
[28] Department for International Development (2000), Disability, poverty
and development (available at: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Pubs/files/
disability.pdf)
[29] International Labor Office: Employment of people with disabilities: The
impact of legislation. Report of a Technical Consultation in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, May 20-22, Geneva: International Labor Office. 2002
[30] Metts, R.: Disability issues, trends and recommendations for the World
Bank. 2000. (available at: http://siteresourcesqa.worldbank.Org/
DISABILITY/Resources/Overview/Disability_Issues_Trend_and_Reco
mmendations_for_the_WB.pdf.)
[31] Howard, M.: An ‘interactionist’ perspective on barriers and bridges to
work for disabled people. Commissioned for Institute for Public Policy
Research, Disability and Work, 2003
[32] Oliver, M.: Understanding disability: From theory to practice. London:
Macmillan Press Ltd. 1996
[33] Bonnel, R.: Poverty reduction strategies: Their importance for disability.
The World Bank, Disability and Development Team, 2004
[34] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.: Sickness,
Disability and Work: Key figures and data on low employment rates of
people with disability and high disability benefit recipiency rates in many
OECD countries , 2010.
[35] Fujiura, G.: Disablement in the Third World: Demography of living
standards, health, and poverty. Proposal submitted to NIDRR. Chicago:
Department of Disability and Human Development, 2000.
[36] See “Towards Full Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities”
declaration of Jan. 29, 2003 at http://www.coe.int/T/E/Communication_
and_Research/Press/events/2.-Parliamentary_Assembly_Sessions/2003/
2003-01&uscore;Winter_session/ONG_Decl.asp.
[37] See Ann Elwan, “Poverty and Disability: A Survey of the Literature,”
Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 9932, The World Bank Group,
Dec. 1999.
[38] Beresford, P. and Holden, C.: We Have Choices: Globalization and
welfare user movements, Disability & Society, 15: 7, pp973-989. 2000.
[39] Mishra, R.: Globalization and the welfare state. Cheltenham, UK;
Northampton, MA: E. Elgar, 1999.
[40] Foucault. M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The birth of the prison. New
York, NY: Pantheon Books
[41] Fraser, N. & Gordon, L. (1997). A Genealogy of dependency: Tracking a
keyword of the US welfare state. P.121-150, Justice Interrupts: Critical
Reflections on the Post-socialist Condition. Edited by Nancy Fraser. NY:
Routledge.
[1] Market fundamentalism (or free-market fundamentalism) is a term coined
by George Soros, to criticize the belief that the free market is always
beneficial to society. As it is a pejorative term, the people and
organizations it refers to will generally reject the label. The meaning can
be considered economic liberalism or laissez-faire capitalism applied
logically and consistently in all fields.
[2] Neo-liberalism represents the antithesis of Keynesian social democratic
policy. It is a historically-specific reemergence of economic liberalism
among economic scholars and policy-makers during the 1970s and
through at least the late-1990s, and possibly into the present
[3] Sen, A.: Why human security? Presentation paper at the International
Symposium on Human Security in Tokyo, July, 2000.
[4] Hurrell, A. and Woods, N.: Inequality, globalization, and world politics.
Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
[5] Dicken, P.: Global Shift: The internationalization of economic activity.
2nd ed., New York: Guilford Press, 1992.
[6] Bretherton, C. and Ponton, G.: Global Politics: an introduction. Oxford,
UK; Cambridge, Mass., USA: Blackwell Publishers, 1996.
[7] Robertson, R.: Globalization: social theory and global culture. London:
Sage, 1992.
[8] Shaw, M.: Global Society and International Relations: sociological
concepts and political perspectives. Cambridge, UK; Cambridge, MA:
Polity Press, 1994.
[9] Neufeld, M.: Theorizing Globalization: Toward a Politics of Resistance –
Neo-Gramscian Response to Mathias Albert, Global Society: Journal of
Interdisciplinary International Relations, Vol. 15: 93-106, 2001.
[10] United Nations: UN Millennium Report: Globalization and Governance.
Eds. Kofi A. Annan. (Available at: http://www.un.org/millen-nium/sg/
report/) 2000.
[11] International Labor Office: Globalization, Labor and Migration:
Protection is paramount, Perspectives on Labor Migration 3E,
International Migration Program, Geneva: International Labor Office,
2003.[12] Sandmo, A.: Globalization and the Welfare State: More Inequality – Less
Redistribution?. Discussion Paper at the Conference of the European
Institute of Social Security, Bergen, Sep., 2001
[13] Stienstra, D.: DisAbling globalization: rethinking global political
economy with a disability lens. Global Society, Vol.16: 109-121, 2002.
[14] Stone, E.: Disability and development in the majority world. In: Disability
and Development: Learning from Action and Research on Disability in
the Majority World. Eds. E. Stone. Leeds: Disability Press, 1999.
[15] Charlton, J.I.: Nothing about us without us. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1998.
[16] Binde, J., and Appadurai, A.: Globalization. Durham, NC: Duke
University Press, 2001.
[17] Chossudovsky, M.: The Globalization of Poverty. London: Zed Books,
1997.
[18] Sklair, L.: Sociology of the Global System. 2nd ed., Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1995.
[19] Sassen, S.: Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: New Press,
1998.
[20] The Povertization of Women: A Global Phenomenon. Nichols-Casebolt
et al. Affilia. 1994; 9-29.
[21] Fischer, A., Franke, K. and Rompel, M. (Eds.): Disability and
Development Policy Paper. Eschborn, Germany: Deutsche Gesellschaft
fur Technische Zusammenarbeit. 2006.
[22] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Transforming
Disability into Ability: Policies to promote work and income security for
disabled people, 2003.
[23] Rodrik, D.: Sense and nonsense in the globalization debate. Foreign
Policy, Summer107: 19-37, 1997.
[24] Holden, C. and Beresford, P.: Globalization and Disability. In: Disability
Studies Today, eds. C. Barnes, M. Oliver, & L. Barton. Cambridge:
Blackwell Publishers, 2002.
[25] Cox, R.H.: The Consequences of Welfare Reform: How Conceptions of
Social Rights are changing. International Social Policy 27: 1-14. 1998.
[26] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Social
expenditure Statistics of OECD Members Countries, 2003.
[27] Elwan, A.: Poverty and Disability: A Survey of the Literature Social
Protection Discussion Paper No. 9932. The World Bank Group, Dec.
1999.
[28] Department for International Development (2000), Disability, poverty
and development (available at: http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Pubs/files/
disability.pdf)
[29] International Labor Office: Employment of people with disabilities: The
impact of legislation. Report of a Technical Consultation in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, May 20-22, Geneva: International Labor Office. 2002
[30] Metts, R.: Disability issues, trends and recommendations for the World
Bank. 2000. (available at: http://siteresourcesqa.worldbank.Org/
DISABILITY/Resources/Overview/Disability_Issues_Trend_and_Reco
mmendations_for_the_WB.pdf.)
[31] Howard, M.: An ‘interactionist’ perspective on barriers and bridges to
work for disabled people. Commissioned for Institute for Public Policy
Research, Disability and Work, 2003
[32] Oliver, M.: Understanding disability: From theory to practice. London:
Macmillan Press Ltd. 1996
[33] Bonnel, R.: Poverty reduction strategies: Their importance for disability.
The World Bank, Disability and Development Team, 2004
[34] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.: Sickness,
Disability and Work: Key figures and data on low employment rates of
people with disability and high disability benefit recipiency rates in many
OECD countries , 2010.
[35] Fujiura, G.: Disablement in the Third World: Demography of living
standards, health, and poverty. Proposal submitted to NIDRR. Chicago:
Department of Disability and Human Development, 2000.
[36] See “Towards Full Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities”
declaration of Jan. 29, 2003 at http://www.coe.int/T/E/Communication_
and_Research/Press/events/2.-Parliamentary_Assembly_Sessions/2003/
2003-01&uscore;Winter_session/ONG_Decl.asp.
[37] See Ann Elwan, “Poverty and Disability: A Survey of the Literature,”
Social Protection Discussion Paper No. 9932, The World Bank Group,
Dec. 1999.
[38] Beresford, P. and Holden, C.: We Have Choices: Globalization and
welfare user movements, Disability & Society, 15: 7, pp973-989. 2000.
[39] Mishra, R.: Globalization and the welfare state. Cheltenham, UK;
Northampton, MA: E. Elgar, 1999.
[40] Foucault. M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The birth of the prison. New
York, NY: Pantheon Books
[41] Fraser, N. & Gordon, L. (1997). A Genealogy of dependency: Tracking a
keyword of the US welfare state. P.121-150, Justice Interrupts: Critical
Reflections on the Post-socialist Condition. Edited by Nancy Fraser. NY:
Routledge.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:69461", author = "Jihye Jeon", title = "Political and Economic Transition of People with Disabilities Related to Globalization", abstract = "This paper analyzes the political and economic issues
that people with disabilities face related to globalization; how people
with disabilities have been adapting globalization and surviving under
worldwide competition system. It explains that economic
globalization exacerbates inequality and deprivation of people with
disabilities. The rising tide of neo-liberal welfare policies emphasized
efficiency, downsized social expenditure for people with disabilities,
excluded people with disabilities against labor market, and shifted
them from welfare system to nothing. However, there have been
people with disabilities' political responses to globalization, which are
characterized by a global network of people with disabilities as well as
participation to global governance. Their resistance can be seen as an
attempt to tackle the problems that economic globalization has
produced. It is necessary paradigm shift of disability policy from
dependency represented by disability benefits to independency
represented by labor market policies for people with disabilities.
", keywords = "Economic Globalization, People with Disability,
Deprivation, Welfare Cut, Disability Right Movement, Resistance.", volume = "8", number = "9", pages = "3120-8", }
