24. Disability and Welfare in Transition: Addressing the Challenges of a Rights-Based Approach

Teresa Janela Pinto (School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Lisbon)

Elisa Fiala (University of Applied Sciences, Lucerne) 

As welfare states face increasing challenges in adapting to changing demographics, economic pressures, and evolving notions of social inclusion, disability policies represent a critical area of innovation and transformation. Current directives shaping disability policy in Europe, including the European Disability Strategy 2021-2030, the European Accessibility Act (2019/882), and the European Pillar of Social Rights, provide guidelines for advancing the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities, aiming to create a more accessible, equitable, and supportive environment across Europe, aligned with the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. These rights-based policy commitments seek to reshape ideas, instruments, institutional arrangements and practices regarding disability and social services, by moving away from a medical model to a rights-based approach, and prioritizing independent living and community-based support, fostering the active participation of individuals with disabilities in society. However, the translation of these rights-based policy commitments into practice creates important challenges for welfare states across Europe.  

This stream will critically examine how disability policies and social services are facing these challenges, bringing together contributions exploring, among others, the following questions:

- How are policy ideas and European and national commitments concerning service equity, inclusion and accessibility being translated into practice?

- What are the key tensions in the transition to a rights-based social service perspective, including issues related to universal vs. selective provision, institutional vs. community-based care, holistic vs. piecemeal support?

- How do social services respond to the intersecting needs of persons with disabilities, including from a life-course and/or gender perspective?

- How can issues related to the transformation and challenges of care - such as defamilization, marketization of care, affordability, and sustainability - be critically examined from a disability perspective?

- How do historical, cultural, and political contexts shape the implementation of disability policies and the delivery of social services?  

This stream welcomes single case or comparative contributions from various disciplines, including social policy, political science, social work, sociology, law, and economy, as it aims to create an interdisciplinary forum for discussing the present and future of disability policies and social services within and across European welfare states.