Disability is one of the issues addressed in this chapter through the lenses of Indigenous worldviews in Latin America. These civilizations embody, relate, and differ through the nature of their culture and history. For instance, in the West, the concept of disability has been associated with the biomedical and neoliberal models that view it as a matter of personal problem, thus limiting the discourse to the individual’s deficit, autonomy, and productivity. The chapter, however, places disability within collective world’s perspectives where kin, land, faith, and reciprocity define the existence. Based on decoloniality theory, Southern ways of knowing and Indigenous concepts, it shows that colonization, exploitation, political repression, and forced assimilation have not only marginalized Indigenous peoples but have also rendered them epistemically disabled. In this way, the chapter through the application of concepts such as diálogo de saberes, Buen Vivir, and relational ontologies portrays disability as a natural and a shared social responsibility rather than a deviation from the normative function. The Indigenous ways of caring, working, and being involved focus more on interdependence and moral obligation than on the market’s productivity, thus providing different avenues for inclusion and resistance. In recognition of the importance of Indigenous-led research practices and activism, the chapter proposes a re-examination of the field of disability studies that will be multi-national, cross-cultural, and diverse in terms of knowledge, and thus, able to tackle the persistent colonial conditions affecting disability in the Global South.

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Embodiment, Relationality, and Difference in Indigenous Worldviews

  • Sheena Mariam Thomas,
  • Ramakrishnan Veerabathiran

摘要

Disability is one of the issues addressed in this chapter through the lenses of Indigenous worldviews in Latin America. These civilizations embody, relate, and differ through the nature of their culture and history. For instance, in the West, the concept of disability has been associated with the biomedical and neoliberal models that view it as a matter of personal problem, thus limiting the discourse to the individual’s deficit, autonomy, and productivity. The chapter, however, places disability within collective world’s perspectives where kin, land, faith, and reciprocity define the existence. Based on decoloniality theory, Southern ways of knowing and Indigenous concepts, it shows that colonization, exploitation, political repression, and forced assimilation have not only marginalized Indigenous peoples but have also rendered them epistemically disabled. In this way, the chapter through the application of concepts such as diálogo de saberes, Buen Vivir, and relational ontologies portrays disability as a natural and a shared social responsibility rather than a deviation from the normative function. The Indigenous ways of caring, working, and being involved focus more on interdependence and moral obligation than on the market’s productivity, thus providing different avenues for inclusion and resistance. In recognition of the importance of Indigenous-led research practices and activism, the chapter proposes a re-examination of the field of disability studies that will be multi-national, cross-cultural, and diverse in terms of knowledge, and thus, able to tackle the persistent colonial conditions affecting disability in the Global South.