While persons with disabilities are not a homogenous group, most are likely to be
disproportionately impacted by climate change and the “natural” disasters that result from
these changes. As a social worker living with chronic health conditions and a particular
interest in disability and public policy, I was curious about how Canada’s Federal
Government climate change policies and initiatives address persons with disabilities and
their diverse needs. My research explored how matters of health and disability have been
taken up in recent Canadian Federal Government climate change policies and strategies
through an analysis of six significant climate change documents. Framed by a feminist,
poststructural-inspired critical disability lens, the documents were examined through an
inductive approach to reflexive thematic analysis, with the aim of contributing to critical
conversations around the intersections of disability justice, climate justice, and related
social justice matters. Through reflexive thematic analysis, I identified three key themes: persons with disabilities are widely absent from Canadian Federal Government climate change documents, both as collaborators as well as groups considered in climate change planning; adaptation to climate change and climate resilience are central in government climate mitigation strategies; and healthy and normative body-minds are presumed by the
documents, which broadly assume all people have the same capacities to adapt. Subthemes
included both a prioritization of the economy, and a foregrounding of a productive,
compulsory, able-bodied and able-minded citizen around which climate change strategies
are designed. I conclude with some suggestions for how Canada’s climate change policies
may become more inclusive for persons with disabilities. / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/13394 |
| Date | 15 September 2021 |
| Creators | MacDonald, Sarah Ellen |
| Contributors | Jeffery, Donna |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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