Yueh-Ching Chou, Institute of Health and Welfare Policy, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Salla Era, Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä

Teppo Kröger, Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä

Since the 1960s, the disability rights movement has advocated for independent living and has opposed institutionalization as a human rights violation. The World Health Organization’s 2011 World Report on Disability adopted a human rights approach, and the 2006 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) further recognized the rights of disabled people, requiring states to ensure autonomy and independence. Both the WHO and the CRPD emphasize the importance of home and community-based care over institutional care. However, in many countries, disabled people continue to face institutionalization or lack sufficient support within the community.

In many Global South countries, most disabled people, like older adults with disabilities due to aging, are supported by family members or live-in migrant care workers. While some countries include services for disabled people in long-term care schemes, care research has traditionally focused on older adults, overlooking the support needs of disabled people and those people helping them. Disability studies, meanwhile, often focus solely on disabled people, without addressing the roles of those who provide assistance.

This panel aims to recognize the human rights of both disabled people and those who support them, including family carers, migrant care workers, home care workers, and personal assistants. In addition to paying attention to human rights, we take intersectionality and diversity into account, addressing factors such as gender, social class, types of impairment, geography, and ethnicity, including disabled people who care for relatives or children.

We invite submissions related to these themes from both care research and disability studies. Papers focusing on intersectionality and comparative studies across disabilities, support systems, gender, and nations are particularly welcome.