Home Institution

University of North Carolina

Publication Date

Fall 12-1-2014

Program Name

Argentina: Regional Integration, Development, and Social Change

Abstract

People with disabilities are one of the largest “minority” groups in the world, accounting for approximately 15% of the global population. They are still, however, denied most of their basic rights in countries around the world. While movements have been made around access to education, transportation, and health systems, people with disabilities are still culturally thought of as incapable of being able to work. By being characterized this way, people with disabilities are denied a most basic human right. In Argentina, there has been greater effort in recent years to provide services for people with disabilities, which are a growing part of the population. However with recent economic crises and an unstable economy, unemployment is high throughout the country, especially impacting people with disabilities who are oftentimes the first to be laid off. This paper seeks to look at the link between disability and employment, and specifically how it exists within Argentina. The goal is to examine cultural influences influence the access to work and in what ways institutional actors fight for greater access. Through primary and secondary research, it is clear that access to employment for people with disabilities in Argentina is still a right for the most part denied. The primary cultural factors influencing various spheres of Argentine life are the medical model of disability and a pervasiveness of capitalist ideology. The medical model states a person with a disability is ill and must be cured; therefore the health, education and employment systems all carry this mentality. Capitalism has equated “normalcy” with “productivity” in many societies, and under this mold oftentimes people with disabilities do not fit in. They cannot be exploited under the capitalist system as many other groups are; therefore they are seen as having no place within the workforce. Both the government and social organizations are making efforts to increase disability access to employment in Argentina. However, the greatest challenges include that the government cannot and does not enforce current legislation due to a lack of accountability. For social organizations, there is no collective movement with a common goal; instead, various groups take different approaches to solving the same problem. Finally, there has yet to be a mass mobilization of the disabled population within Argentina demanding their rights to be realized.

Disciplines

Civic and Community Engagement | Economic History | Economic Policy | Economics | Growth and Development | Health Policy | Inequality and Stratification | International and Area Studies | Latin American Studies | Organization Development | Politics and Social Change | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Policy | Sociology of Culture

Download

Share

Article Location

 
COinS