Knowledge production and human rights enhancement: the role and potentialities of emancipatory disability research

The promotion of inclusive development entails the full participation of everyone, including people with disabilities, in decision making processes. In order to exert some degree of influence, it is crucial that people with disabilities are included in research processes, and that they are able to collect, analyse and disseminate relevant data. Emancipatory disability research (EDR) allows people with disabilities and disability organisations to produce knowledge about their own lives and the social, economic and cultural barriers that impede their effective participation in society. In EDR, people with disabilities act as co-researchers to progressively gain control over the identification of research questions and the elaboration of research methodology and data collection, analysis and dissemination. This chapter presents EDR in practice, by showcasing first-hand EDR experiences through case studies from different countries. These demonstrate how EDR can produce new knowledge about disability, foster empowerment and influence decision-making processes.