Advancing Knowledge for Inclusion in Troubled Times

At a time when polarisation and conflict are intensifying in communities, countries and on a global scale, there is an unparalleled and urgent task to explore the foundations of full inclusion and equality. More than ever before, we need to unpack how certain groups are devalued on the basis of their differences from norms too often made “natural” by dominant groups; norms which, on closer examination, are but ideological tools to sustain the processes of marginalization and exclusion. Finding alternatives begins with hearing the voices of those most profoundly excluded, the poorest of the poor, and the marginalized of the marginalized. In these troubled times, the importance of fostering solidarity with these excluded groups so that full inclusion can take root and flourish – across borders and divisions local-to-global – cannot be overstated. In this context, the launch of the Journal of Inclusion and Disability-Research, Neuro Rehabilitation and Empowerment is much needed and welcome. Its very title demonstrates the disciplinary boundaries it crosses – connecting rehabilitation and empowerment – guided by the beacon of full inclusion. People with disabilities, especially those who face barriers because of their neurodiverse ways of learning, knowing, and communicating – including people with intellectual, learning, developmental, cognitive, and psychosocial disabilities – are among the most excluded groups in society. Bringing an interdisciplinary approach to examining the barriers operating in education, employment, health care, the justice system, in the regimes regulating legal capacity and a person’s right to decide, and others, and exploring research-informed pathways to inclusion is a pressing and urgent priority. However, theoretical and practical challenges lay ahead in developing a research agenda to advance inclusion in a period of extreme conflict and divergence. The new journal is well-situated to address these challenges. First, an intersectional approach is critical. Among those involved in the disability inclusion movement and Able/ Disabled All People Together (ADAPT) is a leading proponent of recognizing that people with disabilities are not a homogeneous group. Much is to be learned in recognizing that people with disabilities often face multiple barriers, their challenges and barriers compounded by gender, racialised, migrant, sexual orientation, ageist, linguistic, and faith-based identities. Forces of exclusion are operating and expanding across all of these identities. Therefore, examining the sources of exclusion and exploring alternatives, must take these multiple identities and forms of diversity into account. Second, the intersectionality that increasingly defines social landscapes the world over means that the research partners and collaborators, research questions, and methodologies must begin from multiple starting points. Centring disability in a research and development agenda for inclusion does not mean restricting researchers and partners to those in disability-identified communities. It requires reaching beyond – to engage those in women’s and gender studies, in health care, in economics, and other fields and disciplines – to collaborate in advancing research for inclusion. We must safeguard against dealing with disability in a reductionist manner, as though that was person’s exclusive experience and identity. At the same time, it requires integrating a disability lens into all other disciplines, to begin to root out the ideological blinders, the naturalized assumptions which all too often are ableist at their core. Third, a research agenda for inclusion and empowerment must be designed to engage and foster capabilities of people with disabilities themselves to become researchers, to access higher education, and to break down the barriers to centres of knowledge production. We can only achieve inclusion when people with disabilities themselves are driving research questions and agendas and critically examining micro-to-macro practices and systems. Finding a place in both community-based and academic research institutions as students, staff, and leaders is essential for this to happen. Fourth, a micro-to-macro perspective is a requirement. The social, legal, and cultural relations of exclusion operate in the day-to-day practices and experiences of how a person is seen and known, how they are enabled or disabled from participating and contribution. The factors organising the possibilities of inclusion are found in multiple community and educational systems. Thus, a mezzo perspective in this work is essential. Exclusion is also organized through systemic factors in law and policy and also through cultural norms and attitudes. A fulsome research agenda that critically examines this multilayered and dynamic ecosystem of exclusion is essential to understand its inner workings and to show pathways to fully enabling ecosystems of inclusion – virtuous circles that lead to participation by all, rather than vicious circles leading to the negative outcomes so pervasive for people with disabilities, across so many indicators of social and economic well-being. Formulating and advancing a multi-layered, cross-cutting, interdisciplinary, participatory research, and development agenda is no small task. A main impetus for this new journal is the work of ADAPT and the intellectual and movement-building leadership of Dr. Mithu Alur. In its very name, ADAPT recognizes that real change comes about through alliances and connection. I have had the honour and privilege of working closely with ADAPT and Dr. Alur and her team over many years, including in a 5-year research and development initiative to advance inclusive education in India, the results of which were published in The Journey to Inclusive Education in the Indian Sub-Continent. The time is ripe to build upon the immensely productive research and training initiatives at ADAPT and with their partners, beginning with Dr. Alur’s ground-breaking research on inclusive education. A journal to support on-going publication and dissemination of research on inclusion is an ideal vehicle to do so – one that is rooted in Asia, connecting ongoing north-south dialogue, profiling innovations from around the world, and which understands the importance of an intersectionally guided disability lens in critically examining the complex dynamics of exclusion and inclusion. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.

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