The experience of disability in plural societies

Abstract Disabled people are part of large immigration movements from developing countries to Western Europe caused by displacement due to war, famine, natural disasters, civil unrest, and hope for a better life. This paper raises five important questions necessary for understanding the immigration of disabled people from one country to another and presents preliminary data on an ongoing, longitudinal study of disabled Iranian, Moroccan, Turkish, Jewish and Congolese immigrants to Belgium. We focus on the transitional nature of immigration and the intercultural disability experiences of these vulnerable immigrants. First, we point out that an understanding of disability in society requires increased attention to geographical, historical and cultural contexts. Second, we discuss what is the core of disability experience and what are the variations? Third, we hypothesize how immigrants make sense of their disabilities in the multicultural context of their new countries. Fourth, we highlight the interlocking local and international social networks that immigrants use to deal with disability. Fifth, we suggest that social, economic and cultural disparities in a society affect how disability is defined and treated, and how scarce resources are allocated to respond to disability. We conclude by arguing that researchers and policy analysts make inappropriate assumptions and draw faulty conclusions, if they are not sensitive to the diversity of disabled people in society.