Participatory & Emancipatory Approaches In Disability Research: Possible allies for supporting active citizenship, civil rights and actions of social innovation

Abstract

This paper addresses the debate surrounding the participatory and emancipatory approaches in disability research. The purpose is to provide evidence in order to answer the research question related to what extent participatory and emancipatory research can represent a paradigm able to contribute to the emancipation of disabled people and to the development of a transformation of fundamental social structures and relationships. The paper is mainly inspired by academic literature reviews and international document- analysis that have led to interpretations and suggestions for a new trajectory of research in the disability field. The first section sets a brief summary of the main authors and theories in relation to the participatory and emancipatory research and how these approaches can develop into means able to support the self-determination of disabled people in the research field. In the second section, the attempt is to tentatively - suggest a trajectory of research, in which: the participatory and emancipatory paradigm of research if applied to a model of disability as a civil rights problems, could guide the collection and analysis of data and information with the active involvement and participation of disabled people in order to develop innovative solutions, transform social structures and change relationships.