Governments have responded to the Covid-19 crisis through various measures designed to reduce transmission and protect people judged to be at heightened risk. This paper explores the implications of such measures in the UK for disabled people, with a particular focus on measures designed to reduce and reshape the use of streets and public space. We divide UK measures into two broad categories. First, there are measures designed to reduce the use of streets and public spaces – e.g., rules requiring people to stay at home except in tightly prescribed circumstances and measures providing specific support (including food delivery and priority online shopping) for people designated as clinically extremely ‘vulnerable’. Second, there are measures designed to control the behaviour of people using streets and public space – e.g., rules on physical distancing and the use of face coverings. We explore the disability-related concerns associated with these types of measure. We also highlight the opportunities this crisis presents for embedding accessibility and inclusion more firmly into the fabric of our streets and call for renewed resistance to policies and practices shaped by ableist assumptions and attitudes.

Este artigo tem o objetivo de apresentar a temática sobre a presença dos refugiados sírios no Brasil a partir de 2011, ano em que eclodiu a guerra na Síria.  Esse estudo faz parte de uma pesquisa sobre as trajetórias laborais dos refugiados sírios nas cidades de São Paulo e Florianópolis – SC. Consideramos os processos integrativos no tecido social brasileiro no contexto de conjuntura de crise econômica, política e de precarização do trabalho. A metodologia aplicada nesta investigação é a da narrativa biográfica. Analisamos o papel das redes de acolhimento. Identificamos, por meio das narrativas, casos de discriminação nos percursos laborais dos refugiados sírios.

This article highlights the importance of ensuring that accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities, as required by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,  is fully embedded in efforts to reduce the dominance of cars in city streets and promote more active modes of travel (including walking, wheeling and cycling) in line with global agendas. Drawing on emerging findings from the Inclusive Public Space research project, we present and critically reflect on types of difficulty associated with streets in which what is commonly known as a ‘shared space’ design operates, and those in which all or part of the available space is designated as primarily for pedestrian use. The data on which this analysis is based is qualitative, deriving from 83 semi-structured interviews about the experiences of our participants (a substantial majority of whom identified as having a disability) in two large UK cities and their wider metropolitan areas. The types of exclusionary experience described by our participants are organised into two broad overlapping categories –  first, difficulties associated with navigating environments in which kerbs have been removed; and second, difficulties associated with interacting with vehicles (including bicycles) within and at the boundaries of shared or pedestrian spaces. Our findings are in line with those of previous projects that challenge and complicate claims that ‘shared space’ design, with its removal of kerbs and controlled crossings, enhances safety and mobility for all. Further, they demonstrate that many of the concerns associated with ‘shared space’ environments are also applicable to other types of street environment intended primarily for pedestrians. As well as highlighting and raising awareness of potential types of exclusion against which action should be taken, we draw attention to measures that could reduce the risk of such exclusionary barriers arising and persisting.   Read the full article in accessible html-format here.

No abstract

O trabalho é um importante meio de integração à sociedade. No campo da deficiência, essa premissa está presente em diferentes dispositivos nacionais e internacionais de proteção de direitos, abordados neste estudo com o objetivo de refletir sobre a garantia de acesso de pessoas com deficiência ao trabalho no contexto do serviço público brasileiro. Foi realizada uma pesquisa descritiva, com abordagem qualitativa, a partir de dispositivos legais de abrangência nacional e internacional, publicados no período de 2014 a 2019. A busca por uma compreensão acerca da deficiência pautada na pluralidade humana e nas interações sociais ficou evidente, embora pulverizada nos diferentes dispositivos legais publicados ao longo do tempo.