Date: December 14th, 2022

Time: 2-4pm

Presenter 1, Name: Poongkothai, T

Presenter 2, Name: Steve Graby

Talk 1, Title: Issues and Challenges of Visual Impaired Women who are away from their Family

Talk 1, Abstract:

The basic understandings of the society on people with visual impairment are, unable to see the world and being depended on others. The major foundation of women development begins from their family. According to the literature, most of the Indian families follow patriarchal thoughts. There are not many studies related to women with visual impairment in the literature. They are being marginalized in society by their gender and disability. The factors are analysed by random sampling with thirty (30) participants who are willing to share for the proposed qualitative and quantitative study with the limitation of a special approach to participate in the study on” Issues and Challenges of Women with Visually Impairment who are away from their Family”.

The objective of this study is to find out the causes and consequences of visually impaired unmarried women who stay away from their family.

The outcomes of the study are: 1) Visually impairment is a cause to bring the participants under one roof, 2) Strategies possessed by the visually impaired women to fulfill their needs, 3) Developing their independent lifestyle and 4) Getting a life partner.

Key words: Visually Impaired Women, Disability, Issues and Challenges.

Authors: T.Poongkothai *& N. Manimekalai**

* Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Women’s Studies, Bharathidasan University, ThiruchIrappallai - 23, E-Mail: vslp.family@gmail.com

** Professor & Head, Department of Women’s Studies, Bharathidasan University, ThiruchIrappallai - 23

Talk 2, Title: "Mutual support is absolutely a shared value": synergies and potential for constructive engagement between co-operatives and the Disabled People's Movement

Talk 2, Abstract:

Co-operatives are businesses which are collectively owned by their members and which follow an internationally agreed set of co-operative principles (Birchall 2011). In the UK, the best-established types of co-operatives include housing and workers' co-ops, while there is growing interest in the potential of multi-stakeholder co-ops (those with two or more classes of member-owners) particularly in the area of social reproduction, including services used by disabled people such as personal assistance and communication support.

While some previous work has pointed towards synergies and similarities between co-operatives and the Disabled People's Movement (e.g. Beresford 2016; Roulstone & Hwang 2015), in the UK (unlike for example in the Nordic countries) there has been little organised contact or collaboration between the two. However, many disabled people are members of co-operatives, and they have significant potential for challenging and surmounting disabling barriers in many aspects of daily life and for meeting many access and assistance needs that are currently not met by the state or market sectors.

This paper is based on research on disabled people's involvement in co-operatives of all kinds in the UK, but focusing here largely on interviews with disabled members of housing and workers' co-ops. Participants perceived both considerable synergies and possible tensions between the principles and practices of co-ops and those of the DPM. Key areas of connection include values of equity and inclusivity, subsidiarity or control by the directly affected, non-paternalistic solidarity, collective autonomy and interdependence. Identifying and examining these, while acknowledging problematic aspects such as unexamined barriers and ableist ideology within co-ops, points towards the value both of the co-operative business form as a strategic tool for disabled people, and of constructive dialogue about shared ideas and principles for both the disabled people's and co-operative movements.

DRF Seminar Series 2022 - Event 4