Disability in the workplace: corporate strategies in a discourse analytical perspective

Abstract

Against the background of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the paper focuses on disability policies in the workplace, taking into consideration the position of the International Labour Organization (ILO) and of its permanent Secretariat, the International Labour Office. The study is set in the discourse analytical tradition and analyses two documents: the ILO Disability Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan and the working paper Disability in the Workplace: Company Practices. The former outlines general principles and illustrates objectives and strategies of the Agency; the latter is a collection of profiles describing the disability policy of 25 major companies. The investigation combines a qualitative approach with quantitative analysis, to single out relevant language features. In particular, the content structure of the companies’ profiles is described and analysed, while the fundamental lexicon of disability issues is examined in context. Special attention is given to the use of narrative and/or argumentation and to companies’ policy declarations. By adopting this multi-dimensional approach, it is possible to shed light on the discursive ambiguities of the texts, which overtly adopt the UN Convention principles, but do not systematically and consistently comply with the new paradigm of disability in their communication effort.