Social Structures
Author: Matthew McKenna, PhD Researcher at Maynooth University’s Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute, Research Funded through the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies (ADVANCE CRT)
The Council of Europe (2020) recalls that the word ‘Democracy’ ‘comes from the Greek words “demos“, meaning people, and “kratos“, meaning power; so democracy can be thought of as “power of the people”: a way of governing which depends upon the will of the people’.
Theories and models of democracy and ‘popular governance’ have manifested in innumerate social models and national socio-political dispositions of rule over millennia since the beginnings of ‘Athenian Democracy’ in the 5th Century BCE. The Greek Directorate of International Relations and European Union of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports (2020) provides the following synopsis of the origins of democratic rule that is cherished as part of the underpinning ethos of the favoured model of governance by the modern political establishment within the context of the socio-political order of the European Union (EU) of today: ‘Humans as autonomous entities in the context of organized society, the respect for their personality, freedoms and rights, were fundamental topics in the ancient Greek thought. From the Elegies of Solon (c. 630-560 BC) to the Democracy and Laws of Plato (428/7-348/7), the Politics of Aristotle (384-323/2 BC) and Demosthenes’ fiery speeches (384-323 / 2 BC), the ideas of justice, rule of law, decency, education, virtue and free thought stand out as key ingredients for the ideal regime’.
However, the history of democratic rule and popular governance is arguably defined by a constant struggle for recognition against the forces of autocracy and subsequent discrimination based on wealth, age, gender, ethnicity and other forms of social strata or groupings of persons. It is defendable to argue that persons with disabilities, with a history of total disempowerment and deprivation of liberty, have faced discrimination within every subgroup of social strata in a manner that could be explained as ‘discrimination within discrimination’. Among these forms of injustices, it is noteworthy that persons with disabilities are arguably among the most recent community of persons to achieve any civic and political recognition for their plight and exclusion from decision-making processes and participation in popular governance.
Ancient Greece, as juxtaposed to its widely touted position as the birthplace of democratic rule and enlightenment of philosophical thought, was a place where disability was viewed as a divine punishment from the gods. In this ancient society, infants and children with disabilities were, by law, abandoned and left to die. Right up until the modern-day, persons with disabilities have faced discrimination, stigma and institutionalization. The struggle to achieve ‘power of the people’ by persons with disabilities is in fact ongoing and contemporary in our society. Barnes and Mercer ed. (2014) describe the prevailing public view of disability in Europe prior to the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD/Convention) in 2006, by stating that ‘In the 1980s, Europe – as personified by the European Economic Community – was deeply entrenched in the view of disabled people as objects of charity, rehabilitation, segregation and specialisation’.
Article 29 of the CRPD on ‘Participation in Public and Political Life’ has empowered persons with disabilities to wield greater clout in decision-making processes and achieve increased levels of self-representation through the ethos of ‘nothing about us without us’. The Convention also seeks to ensure the full participation of persons with disabilities in all areas of modern life including the right to equal employment, and to participate in all spheres of society and public life. This enables persons with disabilities to pursue further learning, engagement and public participation to aid the transition of policy into quantifiable action and progress towards the elimination of restrictive barriers imposed upon them by society.
Kayes and French (2008) emphasize that significant portions of the Convention were drafted by persons with disabilities, reinforcing the ethos of ‘nothing about us without us’, as encapsulated within the CRPD. The central role played by persons with disabilities in the composition of the Convention has helped to ensure that the most obvious and prevalent needs of persons with disabilities are addressed therein. The Convention aims to encourage the participation of persons with disabilities in shaping the direction of wider society through the creation of greater employment opportunities for persons with disabilities. It is hoped that this will enable persons with disabilities to realize their rights and democratic freedoms, and ultimately, to steer the direction of government and policy whilst having an equal influence over bodies of politico-legal agency.
The realization of the rights included in Article 29 has been driven by unprecedented levels of self-advocacy in recent times by persons with disabilities. Tireless campaigning and slow attainment of a political voice by persons with disabilities are supporting the implementation of this provision.
However, it cannot be taken for granted that the rights of persons with disabilities will be advanced and defended if civil-society and disability advocacy networks are not adequately supported in their invaluable work to defend a democratic voice and ‘power of the people’ for persons with disabilities. Civil society and NGOs play a key role in the attainment of a political voice by persons with disabilities. They regularly identify and challenge political discrimination and exclusion of persons with disabilities within the EU. The European Disability Forum (EDF) highlights that the 2021 ‘State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen’, of the European Commission, delivered on the UN International Day of Democracy’, was not accessible to persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The twenty-first century is witnessing a rapid expansion and increasing convergence between humanity, the cyberworld and the modern phenomena of the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT), into a hybrid society that is arguably defined by advanced technologies that enable instant access to information and politics, public opinion-sharing and political participation. Modern international disability law and policy, and contemporary levels of technological development of human society have reached a critical juncture or nexus point through increased convergence and malleability with one another. They hold the potential to safeguard and uphold the rights and ability of persons with disabilities to participate in public and political life and to enjoy, for the first time in history, their rightful democratic freedoms and values.
The time for full political participation and enjoyment of democratic freedoms by persons with disabilities has arrived as Article 29 of the CRPD can be fully implemented within democratic systems of governance through the amalgamation of law, policy and technology to facilitate, defend and reinforce equal access to full political participation and realization democratic freedoms and values. The UN International Day of Democracy of 15th September 2021 reminds us that the sole prerequisite to this achievement comprises a ‘will and impetus’ by the people to achieve for the first time, ‘power of the people’, for all peoples.