Inclusive City Life: Persons with Disabilities and the Politics of Difference

Abstract

From a disability perspective, what might a vision for the "good city" look like at the start of the twenty-first century? What does the idea of "inclusive city life" mean? This paper argues that the city is under-theorized by Disability Studies, and therefore suggests the field needs to reflect more about city life; examine the interconnections between urban settlement and disablement; and imagine the possibilities, within specific social contexts, for enhanced inclusion and citizenship in city spaces. I use Michael Ignatieff's work on the solidarity of strangers and Iris Marion Young's conception of city life as "a being together of strangers in openness to group differences" to examine ideas about social differences, democratic politics, and inclusion in the public realms of urban Canada.