1. d.goodley@sheffield.ac.uk & k.runswick-cole@mmu.ac.uk
Big Society? Disabled People with Learning Disabilities and Civil Society
This research project is a collaboration between Manchester Metropolitan University; The University of Sheffield; The University of Bristol and Northumbria University as well as SpeakUp; Mencap; Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities; Pathways Associates; Manchester Learning Disability Partnership and Independent Living Advisors Pete Crane, Wendy Crane, Max Neill & Helen Smith
We ask: how are people with learning disabilities faring in a time of Big Society?
For more details, please visit:
Briefing Card 5:
The promises made to people with learning disabilities
Big Society? Disabled People with Learning Disabilities & Civil Society
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2. Disability, Austerity and Cruel Optimism
We found that:
‘Cruel optimism’ is the situation people find themselves in when promises are made but not delivered;
In Big Society, disabled people have been promised: good housing; community participation; jobs and a good life, but these promises have not been delivered for all;
We found that people are coming together to demand that the promises made to disabled people are delivered; we call this coming together the ‘disability commons.’
We suggest that:
It is time to deliver on the promises made to disabled people at home, at work and in their local communities;
This can be done through supporting self-advocacy groups; employment routes for disabled people with learning disabilities and through the use of circles of support.
Runswick-Cole, K. and Goodley, D. (in press) Disability, austerity and cruel optimism in Big Society: resistance and ‘the disability commons’ Canadian Journal of Disability Studies .