Emergence and strategies of the movement of physically disabled people in Lebanon

Abstract

The movement of people with disabilities in Lebanon is carried out in a framework marked by irregularity and legislative discontinuity, by the absence of infrastructures that promote the autonomy of people with disabilities and by the tyranny of priorities that relegate the cause of the minority under study to a lower level of importance and urgency. This leads us to describe the success of people with disabilities in coming together to make common cause and take meaningful action in solidarity with their fellow citizens, in a country where almost non-existent social policies confine them to the family sphere and keep them out of the labor market in a national context marked by economic and social uncertainty. To this end, a socio-historical study of the struggle of people with disabilities for their rights in Lebanon was conducted (1975-2019), based on media resources and interviews with disabled activists.