Disability advocacy in Malawi : grassroots voices within the Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA)

Abstract

The Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA) engages in disability advocacy across all scales of Malawian society, including national lobbying and grassroots activism. Much of the literature to date on disability rights movements (DRMs) focuses on minority-world movements. Majority-world contexts are systemically different, with hybrid cultural and political structures which reflect the legacy of colonialism. Exploring these DRMs expands our thinking about social movements, contributing to broadening inclusivity in disability studies. This thesis explores the advocacy work and experiences of FEDOMA’s grassroots advocates both within and outwith the organisation, focusing on voice as a resource. I investigate the internal dynamics of FEDOMA that effect members’ motivation to activism and seek to understand the role of grassroots voices in reproducing and altering systemic structures. To achieve these aims, I devised a two- stage research project. In Stage 1, I conducted a “participatory design process” with FEDOMA, to develop the study. In Stage 2, I conducted interviews and participant observation with grassroots DDF members in four sites across Malawi and FEDOMA staff at national headquarters. I used structuration theory as a basis to develop a “hybrid disability studies” approach to data analysis, exploring the relationships between, and mutual constitution of, structures and agents. The discussion centres on (i) emotion, trust, and leadership as relational resources for advocacy, (ii) resource transference across scales and space-time, (iii) integration of hybrid structural schemas into advocacy work, and (iv) the importance of hearing and listening on the part of FEDOMA in sustaining an engaged grassroots base. The analysis finds that activists use the resources of global systems in combination with local knowledges to address the needs of modern, neo/post-colonial, hybrid societies. Developing hybrid, place-centric disability and social movement studies is one way to explore the complex, and sometimes contradictory, realities of social organising in majority-world contexts.