In this chapter, disability is considered the main intersection of different forms of oppression in Latin America, situated right at the crossroads of race, class, and coloniality. This whole argument is rooted in the concepts of intersectionality, decoloniality, and critiques from Latin America; the chapter not only poses a challenge against the biomedical and individualizing models of disability but also points out the temporal and structural factors that facilitate its existence in racially defined capitalism, in extractive industries, and among the power relations of the colonial past that are still in place. It discusses how differently disability has been associated with race by colonial mechanisms that determine which bodies should be regarded as productive, usual, and human, and how these mechanisms persist through labor exploitation, environmental racism, poverty, informality, and the inability to access healthcare, education, and legal systems. The chapter asserts that the Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities are the hardest hit by the disability limitations, as they are always the first to suffer the consequences of land grabbing, residing in contaminated areas, working in low-paid jobs, and being denied the right to speak and have their knowledge acknowledged. It also highlights the movement of collective struggles, community-based caring, and decolonial practices that change the perception of disability from a liability to a source of knowledge, unity, and political power. By framing disability justice within the broader context of struggles against racial, economic, and epistemological oppression, the chapter presents a radical new view of social justice in Latin America through decolonial and intersectional lenses.

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Disability, Race, and Class: Intersections of Oppression in Latin America

  • Sheena Mariam Thomas,
  • Ramakrishnan Veerabathiran

摘要

In this chapter, disability is considered the main intersection of different forms of oppression in Latin America, situated right at the crossroads of race, class, and coloniality. This whole argument is rooted in the concepts of intersectionality, decoloniality, and critiques from Latin America; the chapter not only poses a challenge against the biomedical and individualizing models of disability but also points out the temporal and structural factors that facilitate its existence in racially defined capitalism, in extractive industries, and among the power relations of the colonial past that are still in place. It discusses how differently disability has been associated with race by colonial mechanisms that determine which bodies should be regarded as productive, usual, and human, and how these mechanisms persist through labor exploitation, environmental racism, poverty, informality, and the inability to access healthcare, education, and legal systems. The chapter asserts that the Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities are the hardest hit by the disability limitations, as they are always the first to suffer the consequences of land grabbing, residing in contaminated areas, working in low-paid jobs, and being denied the right to speak and have their knowledge acknowledged. It also highlights the movement of collective struggles, community-based caring, and decolonial practices that change the perception of disability from a liability to a source of knowledge, unity, and political power. By framing disability justice within the broader context of struggles against racial, economic, and epistemological oppression, the chapter presents a radical new view of social justice in Latin America through decolonial and intersectional lenses.