New Journal: DGS

Disability and the Global South (DGS) is the first peer reviewed journal committed to publishing high quality work focused exclusively on all aspects of the disability experience in the global South. It provides an interdisciplinary platform prioritising material that is critical, challenging, and engaging from a range of epistemological perspectives and disciplines.

We welcome material from a broad range of areas including disability studies, international development, anthropology, postcolonial theory, rural development, global health, Latin American Cultural Studies, psychology, and feminisms. DGS is not confined in focus to any region, but is particularly interested in areas that remain underrepresented, in particular Latin America.

The journal encourages contributions from disabled activists and theorists from the global South. Our objective is to  provide a safe space to critique and challenge the Westerncentrism in dominant disciplines and practices, and the imperialism in the production of ‘knowledge’ and its dissemination.

DGS welcomes research-based and theoretical contributions in English and Spanish and is open to a wide range of themes including (not exclusively):

• Poverty and disability
• War, conflict and displacement
• Health and rehabilitation
• Livelihoods and education
• Cultural constructions of disability
• Colonialism
• Neoliberal globalisation,international development and contemporary Empire
• Religion and spirituality
• Intersectionalities
• Post/neocolonial spaces and identities
• The language of rights in practice
• Researching disability across cultures, indigenous and decolonizing methodologies

Frequency

The journal is published 2 to 3 times a year. The first issue will be published in February 2013.

Open Access

This is an open access journal with the set aim of making all content in its entirety free for everyone and everywhere. All material can be freely downloaded and shared with others under a Creative Commons License. Our open access policy is motivated also by the need for material to circulate beyond academic circles into public spaces where it can be more effectively used.

Peer Review

All articles will be undergo anonymous peer review by two reviewers. We seek to provide feedback to authors in the shortest time possible.

Special IssuesThe journal publishes theme-specific special issues and will be accompanied by a call for papers on this page and other sources. We also welcome suggestions for special issues by guest editors.

ISSN

International Standard Serial Number- ISSN 2050-7364

For more information on the journal please contact the editor-in-chief  Dr. Shaun Grecheditorialdgs@gmail.com

Infertility: Why can’t we classify this inability as disability?

Here’s a paper jointly written by Abha Khetarpal (Non-institutional expert, Enabling Unit) and myself (Founder, InfiniteAbility; Coordinator, Enabling Unit) on infertility as disability.

Khetarpal A, Singh S. Infertility: Why can’t we classify this inability as disability? Australas Med J. 2012;5(6):316-321

Disability is a complex phenomenon. It reflects an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives. International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), lays stress on the functional as well as the structural problem of a person. All the definitions of disability also include the disorders of the reproductive and endocrine system. So infertility and impotency should also be included in the category of disability. It affects the participation in areas of life and can have a disabling affect on an individual. Like any other disability the couple has to adapt and integrate infertility in their sense of self thus infertility comes as a major life crisis. Medically, infertility, in most cases, is considered to be the result of a physical impairment or a genetic abnormality. Socially, couples are incapable of their reproductive or parental roles. On social level, infertility in most cultures remains associated with social stigma and taboo just like the social model of disability. Couples who are unable to reproduce may be looked down upon due to social stigmatisation. Infertility can lead to divorces and separation leading to a broken family life. Without labelling infertility as a disability, it is difficult for the people to access services and welfare benefits offered by the government. Infertility treatments are highly sophisticated so they are very expensive and are even not covered by insurance and government aid. In the light of all this it becomes imperative to categorise infertility as disability.     

Read the full article here on PubMed Central.