Being an ‘active citizen’ involves exercising social rights and duties, enjoying choice and autonomy, and participating in political decision-making processes which are of importance for one’s life. Amid the new challenges facing contemporary welfare states, debate over just how ‘active’ citizens can and ought to be has redoubled. Presenting research from the first major comparative and cross-national study of active citizenship and disability in Europe, this book analyses the consequences of ongoing changes in Europe – what opportunities do persons with disabilities have to exercise Active Citizenship?
The Changing Disability Policy System: Active Citizenship and Disability in Europe Volume 1 approaches the conditions for Active Citizenship from a macro perspective in order to capture the impact of the overall disability policy system. This system takes diverse and changing forms in the nine European countries under study. Central to the analysis are issues of coherence and coordination between three subsystems of the disability policy system, and between levels of governance.
This book identifies the implications and policy lessons of the findings for future disability policy in Europe and beyond. It will appeal to policymakers and policy officials, as well as to researchers and students of disability studies, comparative social policy, international disability law and qualitative research methods.
1. Introduction: is public policy in Europe promoting the Active Citizenship of persons with disabilities? Bjørn Hvinden, Rune Halvorsen, Jerome Bickenbach, Delia Ferri and Ana Marta Guillén Rodriguez 2. Diversity and dynamics of disability policy in Europe – an analytical framework Rune Halvorsen, Anne Waldschmidt, Bjørn Hvinden and Kjetil Klette Bøhler 3. How do we know whether changes in public policy and legislation improve the conditions for exercising Active Citizenship by persons with disabilities? Jerome Bickenbach 4. Operational definitions of disability – usable in comparative research on Active Citizenship? Jan Tøssebro and Bjørn Hvinden 5. Active Citizenship through community living – a multi-level perspective Jan Šiška, Julie Beadle-Brown, Šárka Káňová and Jan Tøssebro 6. How to enhance Active Citizenship for persons with disabilities in Europe through labour market participation – European and national perspectives Roy Sainsbury, Edmund Coleman-Fountain, and Bruno Trezzini 7. To what extent is the assistance and support provided by social services capable of enhancing Active Citizenship for persons with psychosocial disabilities? A comparative perspective Rafael Lindqvist, Marie Sépulchre, Victoria Schuller 8. Enabling people with disabilities through effective accessible technology policies Jenni Kline and Delia Ferri 9. Towards positive wealth accumulation strategies for persons with disabilities: linking social protection with social inclusion Sinéad Keogh, Gerard Quinn, Eilionóir Flynn and Jennifer Kline 10. Exercising influence at the European level – political opportunity structures for disability rights advocacy and the impact of the UN CRPD Andreas Sturm, Anne Waldschmidt, Anemari Karačić and Timo Dins 11. Implementing the UN CRPD in European countries – a comparative study on the involvement of organisations representing persons with disabilities Anne Waldschmidt, Andreas Sturm, Anemari Karačić and Timo Dins 12. The potential for, and barriers to, the exercise of Active EU Citizenship by persons with disabilities: the right to free movement Lisa Waddington 13. The contours of the emerging disability policy in Europe – revisiting the multi-level and multi-actor framework Rune Halvorsen, Bjørn Hvinden, Jerome Bickenbach, Delia Ferri and Ana Marta Guillén Rodriguez
Jerome Bickenbach is Permanent Visiting Professor at the Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Switzerland, Professor Emeritus at Queen’s University, Canada and Head of the Disability Policy Unit at Swiss Paraplegic Research (SPF), Nottwil, Switzerland. His research focuses on disability epidemiology, definition and conceptual analysis, as well as issues in disability policy and law. Delia Ferri is a Lecturer in Law at Maynooth University and member of the Maynooth Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, Ireland. She is also affiliated researcher at the Dirpolis Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy. Her research interests include EU Law, European Constitutional Law and International and Comparative Disability Law. Rune Halvorsen is Associate Professor in Social Policy in the Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway. His research focuses on comparative social policy, disability policy, social movements, social citizenship and recognition politics. Bjørn Hvinden is Professor in Sociology and Head of Research at Norwegian Social Research (NOVA), an institution at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway. His main research interests are comparative and European social policies, social citizenship, climate change and welfare, disability, poverty and youth job insecurity. Ana Marta Guillén Rodriguez is full Professor of Sociology and Head of Department at the University of Oviedo, Spain. Her research interests include comparative social and labour policy, Europeanization and European integration.
