Disability studies in India: emerging issues and trends
G. N. Karna, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies
Abstract
During recent decades the issue of disability has metamorphosed from a purely individual medical / clinical problem to a human rights and socio - political issue. Consequently, the study of Disability Studies is constantly gaining recognition as a separate academic discipline in the universities and academic institutions of Western countries - such as, the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia; and degrees / diplomas ranging from degree to post doctorate are offered in this area. But in India, which has the highest population of the disabled in the world ( estimated to be approximately 100 million), the situation is quite reverse. Notwithstanding, plethora of studies and research carried out on multitudinous aspects of disability and rehabilitation issues in developed societies; the field of Disability Studies remains, still, a grey and unexplored area. in our country -not having been properly unravelled by intellectuals and constantly ignored in the curricula of universities and academic institutions. Due attention has not been accorded to examine disability and rehabilitation issues from inter-disciplinary paradigms. This tendency has culminated in the issue of disability being studied and analyzed as merely the part of the syllabi of certain specific disciplines and that, too, in a rather piecemeal fashion. What is most perturbing is that there seems to be far too rigid a compartmentalization of disciplines in the curricula of Indian universities and academic institutions; which has led to a reduction of cross-flow between various fields of research and is, thus, obstructing progress in the specific area of Disability Studies. In this research paper, I would be attempting to provide a brief recapitulation of the growth of Disability Studies as an academic discipline in the Western universities and academic institutions and thereby exploring the prospects for incorporating the teaching of this emerging area in the Indian universities and academic institutions.