Politiques sociales du handicap et politiques d’insertion : continuités, innovations, convergences.

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the similarities between social policies on disability and integration policies. The similarities are particularly noticeable at an organisational level, especially after the changes brought about by the Law of 2005 for equal rights and opportunities, the participation and citizenship of disabled individuals. However, differences can be observed ; the status of beneficiaries and their organisations, a more advanced single-window system and the organisation role of a central authority. Recently, reflection on the employability of individuals receiving disabled adults benefits, which aims to encourage the employment of the latter, putting an end to the benefits they receive, seem to be an early indication of new similarities between these policies.

Disability and Employability: Professional Categorisations and Individual Experiences at the Boundaries of Disability

“…In the French case, for example, after the 1970-1980s period when the establishment of the Allocation Adulte Handicapé (Handicapped Adult Benefit; AAH; created in 1975) allowed a certain number of people to develop a feeling of social utility outside of the sphere of the labour market while not compounding the already high unemployment figures (Ville, 2008), a variety of reforms in the field of disability sapped the justifiability of not making an effort to rejoin the workforce. In consequence, the opposition between AAH beneficiaries, who since 1975 had been considered, at least temporarily, exempt from looking for work, and beneficiaries of the Reconnaissance de la qualité de travailleur handicapé (Recognition of the Quality of Handicapped Workers; RQTH), who to the contrary were considered to be potential or active disabled workers, faded away in the 2000s (Bertrand, 2013). Not only could AAH and RQTH henceforth be combined, but also disability professionals had to examine the working capacities of all AAH claimants.…”

Combatting disability discrimination: A comparison of France and Great Britain

“…We compare Great Britain and France because despite some differences, they exhibit many similarities. Thus, although France has a civil law base and Great Britain has a common law base, both countries are committed to ensuring work for disabled people (Bertrand, 2013;DWP, 2015). Also, both countries are currently covered by European Union (EU) disability law (Directive 2000/78 EC) and subscribe to the European Commission's Disability Strategy 2010-2020 (European Commission, 2010).…”

“…Despite some important differences, the two countries exhibit many similarities. Although France has a civil law system and Britain a common law system, both countries are committed to ensuring work for disabled people (Bertrand, 2013; DWP, 2015). Both are also (currently) covered by the disability provisions of the EU’s Employment Equality Framework Directive of 2000 and subscribe to its Disability Strategy 2010–2020 (European Commission, 2010).…”

Poverty as a situation of disability: Social workers’ reticence to back active solidarity income beneficiaries’ requests for disabled adults allowance

“…I will highlight how RSA program social workers' specific social and professional trajectories lead them to form particular conceptions of the processes of exclusion, and how these conceptions are vital for understanding how the notion of disability is put to practical use in this branch of social policy (Box 2). This analysis thus aims to enhance our understanding of the ways in which different fields of public intervention may converge and interact (Bertrand, 2013).…”