Inclusion as heterotopia: Spaces of encounter between people with and without intellectual disability

Herman P Meininger

doi:10.36251/josi.61

Abstract

The Journal of Social Inclusion (JoSI) is a peer-reviewed academic journal that will contribute to current knowledge and understanding of the social processes that marginalise individuals, families and communities. The journal will be published bi-annually under the guidance of an International Editorial Advisory Board. The Journal of Social Inclusion (JoSI) is an initiative of the School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith University.

Highlights

Step by step people with intellectual disability have become more visible in society
Where to find spaces of encounter where do we find these spaces of encounter in contemporary everyday social reality? Many authors do not believe that acceptance of and respect for differences can be expected of collective social structures and their political and legal arrangements
We can learn from Foucault’s conceptualization of ‘other places’ and its subsequent reinterpretations that the rejection of segregated monocultures in total institutions was seldom associated with awareness that the normal and ordinary life in which persons with intellectual disability had to be included in many respects is a closed monoculture itself

Summary

Introduction

Step by step people with intellectual disability have become more visible in society. Processes leading in this direction are labelled as deinstitutionalisation, normalisation, integration or inclusion and various political or social scientific definitions of these terms are proposed At the centre of all these definitions is the moral rejection of former policies and practices that resulted in persons with intellectual disability living segregated from their families, local communities and society at large. For many years inclusion has been proclaimed as the central idea of policy, management and practice of service provision for people with intellectual disability. In activism and research the meaning of concepts of community and of participation may vary significantly, and sometimes even be contradictory (Carey, 2011)

Objectives

Conclusion