INVITATION FOR A TWO-DAY CONFERENCE on DISABILITY, GENDER AND SOCIETY: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES AND CHALLENGES

21-22 August 2008

(0930-1700 HRS)

Conference Centre,

University of Delhi, (North Campus)

Chhatra Marg

New Delhi 110007

The Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS), New Delhi is organising a two-day conference on ‘Disability, Gender and Society: Contemporary Perspectives and Challenges’ in partnership with the Women’s Studies and Development Centre (WSDC) of Delhi University As you are aware disability is an emerging paradigm, and women’s studies has played a significant role in this development. The aim of this conference is to engage with the issue of disability from an academic inter-disciplinary and gender-sensitive perspective. It hopes to create a dialogue between different stakeholder, viz., academics, activists, students and policy-makers, in an ongoing effort to mainstream disability in the academy and wider society.

A special issue of the ‘Indian Journal of Gender Studies’ entitled Disability, Gender and Society (guest edited by Renu Addlakha) will also be released during the conference.

In view of your work/interest in research and advocacy on disability, we welcome your active participation.

Please confirm your participation to Ms. Usha Wali at usha@cwds.ac.in

Kindly also find attached the concept note and programme of the conference.

Mary E. John Vibha Chaturvedi Renu Addlakha
Director Director Senior Fellow/Conference Co-ordinator

CWDS WSDC CWDS

CONCEPT NOTE

Persons with disabilities are amongst the most disempowered groups. They are constantly faced with discrimination and are subjected to neglect, prejudice, revulsion, rejection and pity. They face economic, educational, architectural, legal and health barriers, which prevent them from leading a fulfilling life and achieving their full potential. Women with disabilities face violations of their rights at every level. They are considered a financial burden and social liability by their families; they are denied opportunities to movement outside the home and access to education; they are viewed as asexual, helpless and dependant; their vulnerability to physical, sexual and emotional abuse is enormous; their aspirations for marriage and parenthood often denied; they grow up ensconced within the walls of the home or special institutions isolated and neglected with no hope of a normal life.

The rise of the disability movement in different parts of the world and the proactive role of the United Nations since the 1970s has moved the issue of disability from the realm of charity and welfare to that of rights and entitlements. In that spirit India passed the landmark ‘Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act in 1995 mandating a range of policy initiatives for persons with disabilities in the fields of health, accessibility education, employment and social security. In the light of this scenario, India’s signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 1st October 2007 is a significant event, the meaning and implications of which will unravel in the coming years.

In the light of the above, the Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS), New Delhi decided to jointly organise a two-day conference on gender, disability and society with the Women’s Studies and Development Centre (WSDC) of Delhi University. It may be noted that disability is a thrust research area of CWDS. In order to maximise student participation and to create an interface between the disability movement and the academy, it was decided to hold this event on campus. The conference seeks to engage with the concept of disability from a variety of disciplinary positions, socio-cultural contexts and subjective experiences. Each of the papers addresses disability within the overarching framework of the Indian reality, bringing a strong gender perspective. While in some papers gender is the principal focus (Bhargavi Davar, Amita Dhanda, Asha Hans and colleagues, Anita Ghai and Rachna Johri, Nandini Ghosh.Nilika Mehrotra and Shubhangi Vaidya), others engender their analysis in novel ways. For instance, Upali Chakravarti examines family caregiving and Michele Friedner maps transnational discursive flows through a gendered lens. Then, Shilpaa Anand deconstructs notions of disability in the colonial discourse and how they can be analysed from a gender perspective. In a more contemporary vein, Gajendranath Karna and Jagdish Chander engender their analysis of the disability movement and the discipline of disability studies in India respectively. Jeeja Ghosh and Vandana Chaudhry look at grass root empowerment modalities with a particular focus on women with disabilities.

Disability is no longer confined to a limited number of physical, sensory, psychosocial and communicative limitations with negative social consequences. The disability paradigm has emerged as an analytical tool that can be used to analyse a range of biological and social conditions. Surabhi Tandon Mehrotra constructs the life histories of some female leprosy affected women showing the interface between personal experience, family dynamics, institutionalisation and ‘cure’ through a revolutionary multi-drug treatment regime that has made it possible to eliminate leprosy. From another perspective, Sabiha Hussain looks at the ongoing social suffering of a woman having to bear the stigma of infertility. Focussing on the interface between psychosocial and physical disabilities, Renu Addlakha examines the emerging paradigm of disability, interrogating notions of deviance, difference and diversity.

PROGRAMME

Thursday, 21^st August 2008
0930-1000.	Inaugural Function. Mary John, Director, CWDS Vibha Chaturvedi, Director, WSDC Overview of the Seminar Renu Addlakha, CWDS Inaugural Address Deepak Pental: Vice-Chancellor, University of Delhi.
SESSION 1: DISABILITY MOVEMENT AND DISABILITY STUDIES IN PERSPECTIVE Chairperson: Vibha Chaturvedi , WSDC, University of Delhi Discussant: Suranjita Ray, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi
1000-1050	Historical Development of Disability Rights Movement in India G.N. Karna, Society for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies, New Delhi Development of the Discipline of Disability Studies Jagdish Chander Department of Political Science, Hindu College University of Delhi
1050-1120 DISCUSSANT’S COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
1120-1150 TEA BREAK
SESSION 2: SELF-IDENTITY AND PSYCHOSOCIAL DISABILITY Chairperson: Mary John, CWDS Discussant: Shalini Anant, Miranda House, University of Delhi
1150-1230	Bhalo Meye: Cultural construction of gender and disability in Bengal Nandini Ghosh Sanchar, Kolkata Gender and Mental Disability in India – Some Uneasy Inheritance of an Existing Discourse Shilpa Anand Doctoral Candidate, Disability Studies Programme, University of Illinois at Chicago (USA) From Mental Illness to Disability: Choices for Women User/Survivors of Psychiatry in Self and Identity Constructions Bhargavi V Davar Centre for Advocacy in Mental Health, Pune
1230-1300 DISCUSSANT’S COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
1300-14000 LUNCH
SESSION 3 : LAW, POLICY AND THE GLOBAL SOCIETY Chairperson: Uma Chakravarti, Feminist Historian Discussant: Shobhana Warrier, Kamla Nehru College, University of Delhi
1400-1440	Sameness and Difference: Twin Track Empowerment for Women with Disabilities Amita Dhanda National Academy of Legal Studies and Research, Hyderabad Need for a Framework for Combined Disability and Gender Budgeting Asha Hans, Sansristi, Bhubaneswar Amrita M. Patel, School of Women’s Studies, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar S.B. Agnihotri, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, New Delhi
1440-1510 DISCUSSANT’S COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
1510-1530 TEA
SESSION 4: MOTHERHOOD, MEDICINE AND CARE Chairperson: Patricia Uberoi, Centre for Chinese Studies, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi Discussant: Deepali Bhanot, Janaki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi
1530-1630	Prenatal Diagnosis: Where do We Draw the Line? Anita Ghai, Department of Psychology, Jesus and Mary College, Rachana Johri, Department of Psychology, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi Exploring constructs of Intellectual Disability and Personhood in Haryana and Delhi Nilika Mehrotra, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University Shubhangi Vaidya, Regional Service Division, Indira Gandhi National Open University Social Context of Disability and Caregiving Upali Chakravarti, School of Community Health and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University
1630-1700 DISCUSSANT’S COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION

Friday, 22^nd August 2008
SESSION 5: HEARING IMPAIRMENT AND THE GLOBAL POLITICS OF DEAFNESS Chairperson: Ravinder Kaur, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi Discussant: Amrit Kaur Basra, Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, University of Delhi
0930-1020	The Inner World of Adolescent Girls with Hearing Impairment: Two Case Studies Sandhya Limaye School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai ‘I am deaf, you are deaf, we are the same’: Cultivated Sameness and Present Oriented Affinities Michele Friedner Doctoral Candidate, Department of Anthropology, University Of California (Berkeley) USA
1020-1050 DISCUSSANT’S COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
1050-1120 TEA BREAK
	SESSION 6: EXPERIENCE AND IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION Chairperson: Malavika Karlekar, Editor, Indian Journal of Gender Studies Discussant: Asha Tandon, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi.
1120-1230	Deformity and Social Exclusion: Experiences of Persons Affected by Leprosy Surabhi Tandon Mehrotra Independent Researcher, Delhi
	Discussant: Gita Lakhanpal, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College, University of Delhi
	A Woman Without a Child: Disabling Consequences of Infertility in India Sabiha Hussain Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi The Disability Paradigm in Perspective Renu Addlakha Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi
1230-1300 DISCUSSANT’S COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
1300-1400 LUNCH
SESSION 7: DISABILITY, CIVIL SOCIETY AND EMPOWERMENT Chairperson: Kumud Sharma, Centre for Women’s Development Studies Discussant: Shubhra Seth, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi
1400-1440	Social Inclusion of Disabled People: Is It Still a Distant Reality? Jeeja Ghosh, Human Rights Law Network, Kolkata Politics of Self-help: Disability and the Neoliberal Indian State Vandana Chaudhry, Doctoral Candidate, Disability Studies Programme, University of Illinois at Chicago (USA)
1440-1510 DISCUSSANT’S COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
1510-1530 TEA
SESSION 8: VISUAL CULTURE AND DISABILITY Discussant: Roma Chatterji, Department of Sociology, University of Delhi Discussant: G. Arunima, Women’s Studies Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru University
1530-1610	Body/Art: Photographic Project on Deafness and Communication Jose Abad Freelance Curator Blind with Camera: Photography by the Visually Impaired Partho Bhowmick Freelance Photographer
1610-1630 DISCUSSANT’S COMMENTS AND DISCUSSION
1630-1700 OPEN DISCUSSION: What Can We Do To Prioritise Disability in Our Work and Lives? Moderators: Manjeet Bhatia, Women’s Studies and Development Centre, University of Delhi Renu Addlakha, Centre for Women’s Development Studies
VOTE OF THANKS