Apropriação no Brasil dos estudos sobre deficiência: uma análise sobre o modelo social

Abstract

Disability studies are an academic field that investigates the society in which we live, focusing on the discrimination and prejudice that disabled people face. This field has originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, linked to social movements led by people with disabilities. The main aspect of this field was the reformulation of the concept of disability, which, instead of focusing the problem on the individual (individual model), argues that disability is a form of social oppression. This aspect originated what is called the social model of disability. Disability studies have influenced science and policy in many countries, as well as the formulation of United Nations conventions and declarations. There is recognition of the importance of the social model for Brazil. In spite of this, it is noticed less attention in the literature on how this model was appropriate in Brazil. This thesis analyses, in three studies, how the social model was appropriate in Brazil. In the first one, the conception of the social model was analysed from the books and articles of the pioneers Colin Barnes, Len Barton and Michael Oliver. In the second study, we investigated how the translation and understanding of appropriation were made, considering cultural and social aspects of Brazil. For this, the journal Revista Brasileira de Educação Especial was chosen. From 597 articles published between 2001 and 2017, 32 articles were selected for a detailed analysis. In the third study, from the perspective that language influences social aspects, we used as theoretical reference the concepts of appropriation, by Roger Chartier, translation and negotiation, by Zoia Prestes, and circulation of ideas, by Pierre Bourdieu, to investigate terminology related to disabled people. We highlight the following contributions of this work: it was found that the factors “elimination of social and attitudinal barriers”, “empowerment of disabled people” and “emancipatory research” are the essential aspects of the social model. However, the last two are concepts with less appropriation in Brazil. It was observed that 27 works employ the convergent indirect category, that is, the model is not cited by the original sources of the precursor authors, but it influences the ideas of these authors. This fact may explain a lesser knowledge of empowerment and emancipatory research. In the third study, it was observed that impairment (lesão) has been translated as “deficiência” or “impedimento”, both in academic works and in legislation. As a consequence, the concept present for most of the Brazilian population deviates from the original concept of the social model and approaches the individual model. Finally, it is believed that a better understanding of the social model can contribute to reducing discrimination against disabled people in society.