Living with disability during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan and Australia

Mark R. Bookman, Carolyn S. Stevens

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

In recent years, scholars, activists, and other interested parties have written about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected diverse populations of disabled people. Although well-intentioned, their curations have been subject to numerous constraints, (re)producing projects that have empowered some, but not all, impaired individuals across the Asia-Pacific region. In this article, the co-authors reflect on their own experiences of disability in Japan and Australia. Using autoethnography, they suggest how increased attention to the diversity of experience and the mitigation of stigma might enrich our understanding of the lives of impaired individuals, as well as the social structures, legal systems, and built environments surrounding them in different contexts. This logic might be meaningfully adopted by researchers of other minority demographics, figured in terms such as age, race, gender, class, and ethnicity.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2-24
Number of pages23
JournalArs Vivendi Journal
Volume15
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2023

Keywords

  • disability
  • inclusive society
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • COVID-19
  • pandemic

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