Jan Tøssebro – författare

Over the last three decades, a number of reforms have taken place in European social policy with an impact on the opportunities for persons with disabilities to be full and active members of society. The policy reforms have aimed to change the balance between citizens’ rights and duties and the opportunities to enjoy choice and autonomy, live in the community and participate in political decision-making processes of importance for one’s life. How do the reforms influence the opportunities to exercise Active Citizenship? This volume presents the findings from the first cross-national comparison of how persons with disabilities reflexively make their way through the world, pursuing their own interests and values. The volume considers how their experiences, views and aspirations regarding participation vary across Europe. Based on retrospective life-course interviews, the volume examines the scope for agency on the part of persons with disabilities, i.e. the extent to which men and women with disabilities are able to make choices and pursue lives they have reasons to value. Drawing on structuration theory and the capability approach, the volume investigates the opportunities for exercising Active Citizenship among men and women in nine European countries. The volume identifies the policy implications of a process-oriented and multi-dimensional approach to Active Citizenship in European disability policy. It will appeal to policymakers and policy officials, as well as to researchers and students of disability studies, comparative social policy, international disability law and qualitative research methods.

Over the last three decades, a number of reforms have taken place in European social policy with an impact on the opportunities for persons with disabilities to be full and active members of society. The policy reforms have aimed to change the balance between citizens’ rights and duties and the opportunities to enjoy choice and autonomy, live in the community and participate in political decision-making processes of importance for one’s life. How do the reforms influence the opportunities to exercise Active Citizenship? This volume presents the findings from the first cross-national comparison of how persons with disabilities reflexively make their way through the world, pursuing their own interests and values. The volume considers how their experiences, views and aspirations regarding participation vary across Europe. Based on retrospective life-course interviews, the volume examines the scope for agency on the part of persons with disabilities, i.e. the extent to which men and women with disabilities are able to make choices and pursue lives they have reasons to value. Drawing on structuration theory and the capability approach, the volume investigates the opportunities for exercising Active Citizenship among men and women in nine European countries. The volume identifies the policy implications of a process-oriented and multi-dimensional approach to Active Citizenship in European disability policy. It will appeal to policymakers and policy officials, as well as to researchers and students of disability studies, comparative social policy, international disability law and qualitative research methods.

This open access book offers a comprehensive review of the deinstitutionalisation process in the Nordic countries and its long-term developments from 1960 to 2020. Challenging the popular idea of deinstitutionalisation as a “mission accomplished” in this region, it heralds discussion about how the relocation process has unfolded and what consequences it has had for people with intellectual disabilities in practice. It presents a compelling narrative of the history and the current status of services for people who moved out of institutions to live in the community and discusses to what extent the intentions have been achieved.Retracing the conceptualisation of normalisation in the 1960s and the new wave of deinstitutionalisation in Norway and Sweden in the 1980s and 1990s, this collection discusses how dismantling of institutions came to the forefront of the political agenda. It scrutinises the drivers of change in policies and practices for persons with intellectual disabilities, exploring changing ideologies, political goals, and service developments in the context of more general policy developments in the Nordic region. Leading experts in the field unveil the complex dynamics between ideologies, policies, practices, and contexts to challenge and reconsider lessons learned in the past fifty years from the Nordic experience. A ‘must read’ for students and researchers interested in disability studies, intellectual disability, social policy, social work, special care nursing, rehabilitation, as well as professionals, policymakers and stakeholders.