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Durham E-Theses DISABLED VOICES IN DEVELOPMENT? The Implications of Listening to Disabled People in Burkina Faso BEZZINA, LARA How to cite: BEZZINA, LARA (2017) DISABLED VOICES IN DEVELOPMENT? The Implications of Listening to Disabled People in Burkina Faso, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12100/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 DISABLED VOICES IN DEVELOPMENT? The Implications of Listening to Disabled People in Burkina Faso Lara Bezzina THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 2017 Department of Geography Durham University 1 Perhaps the very success or failure of every form of ‘development’ should be measured by the extent to which it is inclusive of disability. (Power, 2001: 93) 2 ABSTRACT Development discourse and practice have generally ignored, even silenced, people with disabilities. In response, this thesis draws on the case of Burkina Faso to bring geographies of development and disability into dialogue with postcolonial theory, which seeks to recuperate the voices of the marginalised and oppressed. It adopts a mixed ethnographic methods approach, including participatory techniques and interviews, in order to understand the lived experiences of disabled people in Burkina Faso. The thesis first examines the general context of Burkina Faso and the different aspects of Burkinabe life and society in which disabled people’s lives unfold. These aspects are interlinked with the perceptions of disability in Burkina Faso, both in how society perceives disability and in how disabled people view themselves. These perceptions, which are explored subsequently, affect the lived experiences of disabled people, which are often not taken into account by development practitioners who intervene in disabled people’s lives using western models and ideologies. Furthermore, development interventions influence the creation and functioning of grassroots disabled people’s organisations, and here the thesis looks at the challenges these organisations face with regard to their heavy dependence on external partners as well as the lack of ‘organisational spirit’. Finally, the thesis examines disabled people’s perceptions of development and the emphasis on economic independence as an essential element in a disabled person’s life to challenge the predominant perception of disabled people as a burden. It highlights the significance of opening up spaces in which disabled people’s voices can be heard, using techniques such as participatory video, and the significance of having these voices heard by development practitioners. The findings indicate that there is a need to theorise disability from Global South perspectives, as well as to facilitate development through an engagement with the voices and agency of disabled people. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………………………….4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS…………………………………………………………………8 FIGURES............................................................................................................... 8 TABLES ................................................................................................................. 8 TEXTBOXES ......................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………………….10 STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT…………………………………………………………..12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………13 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………15 DISABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................... 16 DEVELOPMENT: A MUCH-CONTESTED CONCEPT ......................................... 19 POSTCOLONIAL THEORY AND DISABILITY ..................................................... 22 WHY BURKINA FASO? ....................................................................................... 25 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES .................................................................................... 26 DISABILITY: DEFINITION AND TERMINOLOGY ................................................ 28 THESIS OUTLINE ............................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 2 RETHINKING DISABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE LENS OF POSTCOLONIAL THEORY……………………………………………………………….32 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 32 DISABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A POSTCOLONIAL LENS ........ 33 Can the Disabled Person Speak? ..................................................................... 35 Disabled People and Representation ............................................................... 39 WESTERN MODELS OF DISABILITY ................................................................. 44 Disability and Disability Models in Global South Contexts ................................ 47 DEVELOPMENT: A DISABLING NEOCOLONIALISM? ....................................... 52 The Role of INGOs in Development ................................................................. 54 Interventions with Disabled People by INGOs .................................................. 59 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY: RESEARCHING DISABILITY IN BURKINA FASO…………….68 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 68 FIELDWORK OVERVIEW ................................................................................... 74 4 INTERVIEWS .................................................................................................................... 77 Gatekeeping and ‘Selecting’ the Participants ................................................... 83 Interpretation, Translation and Dissemination .................................................. 88 PARTICIPATORY DIAGRAMMING AND PARTICIPATORY VIDEO ................... 93 The Participatory Process ................................................................................ 94 CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS ................................................................... 108 Methodological Limitations ............................................................................. 108 Managing Expectations .................................................................................. 111 Accessing Disabled People in the Furthermost Margins ................................. 114 ETHICAL CONCERNS ...................................................................................... 116 Power and Positionality .................................................................................. 117 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 121 CHAPTER 4 BURKINA FASO: DISABLED PEOPLE WITHIN A DISABLING CONTEXT….....123 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................... 123 Terminology and Categorisation ..................................................................... 130 SITUATING THE DISABLED PERSON IN BURKINA FASO ............................. 133 Disabling Illnesses and the Traditional – Western Medicine Nexus ................ 138 BURKINABE SOCIETY ..................................................................................... 144 Traditional and Modern Society ...................................................................... 144 Families and Marriages .................................................................................. 147 Education: a ‘Disability within a Disability’ ...................................................... 149 Employment: The Informal and Formal Sectors .............................................. 154 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 161 CHAPTER 5 ‘SOMETHING THAT IS MISSING’? Identities and Perceptions of Disability….162 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 162 IDENTIFYING AND CATEGORISING DISABILITY ........................................... 164 DISABLED PEOPLE SELF-IDENTIFYING ........................................................ 166 THE SOCIAL MODEL IN BURKINA FASO AND THE SOCIALISATION PROCESS .......................................................................................................................... 175 POSITIVE IDENTITY, AFFIRMATION AND SELF-ORGANISATION ................. 190 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................... 195 CHAPTER 6 ‘IT’S GOOD BUT IT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH’ Politics, Rights and Representation…………………………………………………………………………...198 5 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................