Papers by Carla Filomena Silva
Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinics of North America
Synopsis
In this paper, we explore the significance of parasport in highlighting an emancipato... more Synopsis
In this paper, we explore the significance of parasport in highlighting an emancipatory understanding of difference and enhancing social empowerment. By illuminating the influence of ableist ideology upon people with impairments we draw upon the field of disability studies. We ultimately argue that rather than being supressed, difference should be recognised and valued in parasport practices and ideologies, leading to a pluralist culture, in which further and wider social emancipation can be grounded. Acceptance of difference is an absolute and essential precondition for parasport cultures to promote positive social change for people with disabilities.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article for publication by Elsevier:
SILVA, C. F. and HOWE, P. D. 2018. The social empowerment of difference: the potential influence of parasport. Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, In Press.
© <2018>. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
![Research paper thumbnail of The fiddle of using the Paralympic Games as a vehicle for expanding [dis]ability sport participation](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/56027030/thumbnails/1.jpg)
In this paper we highlight the need to explore the excessive significance given to the Paralympic... more In this paper we highlight the need to explore the excessive significance given to the Paralympic Games as a vehicle for the encouragement of participation of people with a disability within sport. The media spectacle around the games that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has worked tirelessly to develop has become, for policy makers and the public alike, a sufficient outlet for disability sport provision. We argue that the honourable goals of the IPC articulated through the ethos of Paralympism have been assumed to be valid for all people with a disability, yet in terms of widening participation, their utility is limited, as the Paralympics themselves are exclusionary. This paper first illuminates the relationship between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the IPC before we turn our attention to the ethos of Paralympism. Highlighting the necessity for 'sport for all', we show how a human rights lens, aided by a capabilities approach can facilitate better ways to educate the public about the need for equality of access to sporting participation opportunities.
CHALLENGING 'NORMALCY': POSSIBILITIES AND PITFALLS OF PARALYMPIC BODIES
The Paralympic Games is celebrated in the mainstream media in line with the vision of the Interna... more The Paralympic Games is celebrated in the mainstream media in line with the vision of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) 'to enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world.' In this paper we explore the degree to which the flagship of parasport has acted as a catalyst for an enhanced social and cultural understanding of disabled embodiments. Drawing upon a Foucauldian conceptualisation of biopower in connection with Haraway's articulation of the cyborg, we highlight how hybrid bodies inevitably fail to promote embodied difference because they constitute, in and of themselves, a product of 'normalising' technology. In the light of critiques, such as that of the sporting supercrip, we argue that the heroic glorification of Paralympic cyborgs further amplifies the inadequacy of non-cyborg disabled bodies, whose impairments cannot be 'compensated for' by movement technologies. Ultimately, this paper is a call to reflect upon how parasport culture can enhance its ability to deliver the empowerment ideal encapsulated within its vision.
TThe fiddle of using the Paralympic Games as a vehicle for expanding [dis]ability sport participation
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we highlight the need to explore the excessive
significance given to the ... more ABSTRACT
In this paper, we highlight the need to explore the excessive
significance given to the Paralympic Games as a vehicle for the
encouragement of participation of people with a disability within
sport. The media spectacle around the games that the International
Paralympic Committee (IPC) has worked tirelessly to develop has
become, for policy-makers and the public alike, a sufficient outlet for
disability sport provision. The honourable goals of the IPC articulated
through the ethos of Paralympism have been assumed to be valid for
all people with a disability, yet in terms of widening participation, their
utility is limited. This paper first illuminates the relationship between
the International Olympic Committee and the IPC before we turn our
attention to the ethos of Paralympism. Highlighting the necessity
for ‘sport for all’, we use a human rights lens, aided by a capabilities
approach to facilitate better ways to educate the public about the
need for equality of access to sporting participation opportunities.
"The Paralympic Games and the Agenda of Empowerment" In Reframing Disability?: Media,(Dis) Empowerment, and Voice in the 2012 Paralympics, Edition: 1st, Chapter: 13, Publisher: Routledge, Editors: Daniel Jackson, Caroline E.M. Hodges, Mike Molesworth, Richard Scullion, pp.202-217
EMPOWERMENT
Power and empowerment are thus central concepts to any discussion of
media representa... more EMPOWERMENT
Power and empowerment are thus central concepts to any discussion of
media representations of disability and disability sport. These concepts run
through our chapter contributions examining media narratives, but are also
central to understanding how the Paralympics was experienced: by disabled
people, non-disabled people and the athletes themselves. The concept of
empowerment is not a straightforward one, though. It implies the acquisition
of power—presumably from a prior state of ineffi cacy, power itself
being the ability to act or take decisions in ways that affect self and/or others
(Staples, 1990). But as David Howe and Carla Silva argue in Chapter
13 , we need to clarify who are the main targets of this empowerment.
In the context of disability sport, the word ‘empowerment’ is traditionally
connected to the generalised assumption that the athletes who participate in
the Paralympics, and the groups of people they supposedly represent (‘the
disabled’), are in a position of social disadvantage, that they are ‘disempowered’,
which enough evidence would support. However, as becomes clear in
a number of our contributions, there is a need to make a distinction between
the empowerment of the athletes who participate in the Paralympics and the
empowerment of disabled people within society. (p. 2, from the Introduction)
Book review Ethics, Disability and Sport
Hacettepe Journal of Sport Sciences, Volume XXIV, Issue 2, 2013
ln Adapted Physical Activity (ApA) field is it widely accepted that physical activity is inherenf... more ln Adapted Physical Activity (ApA) field is it widely accepted that physical activity is inherenfly empowering.
However, to date, tools to empirically assess the validity of this assumption are scarce and underdeveloped (Hutzler, 2OO8; Reid,2OO3; Silva & Howe,2O12). Drawing upon a three-year ethnographic investigation into the culture of sitting volleyball (SV) in the United Kingdom (UK) aimed at evaluating the impact of the sport on the personal capabilities of players with impairments, we defend that the human development focus of capabilities approach offers ethical, conceptual and methodological guidance essential to evaluate APA potential to promote the empowerment of its public. Because this approach
is grounded in the defense of essential values of a life
worthy of human dignity such as freedom, agency and
self-determination (Nussbaum, 2006, 2011; Sen, 1999, 2009), this connection would also help ApA to reinforce its social legitimacy. The present paper ouflines this study's methodological design and presents a summary of significant findings.
Qu’apporte aux activités physiques adaptées l’approche par le développement humain et les capacités ?
Sport et handicap : les Activités physiques adaptées (APA) , Numéro : 58, Juillet 2012, Jul 12, 2012
• Qu’apporte aux activités physiques adaptées l’approche par le développement humain et les capac... more • Qu’apporte aux activités physiques adaptées l’approche par le développement humain et les capacités ?
Carla Filomena Silva, David Howe
Résumé : Cet article souligne l’importance d’inscrire les Activités physiques adaptées (APA) dans un cadre éthique. Lequel, à notre avis, permet de maintenir ces activités dans le droit-fil de la mission qui leur est dévolue. L’auteur met en lumière une relative carence dans la réflexion critique sur les questions éthiques concernant les APA. Il réaffirme l’intérêt d’une approche par les capacités, en tant qu’outil visant à éliminer les dépendances et privations sociales qui sont encore trop souvent associées à la différence. Une compréhension globale du développement humain dans les APA s’avère plus pertinente que la vision actuelle privilégiée, celle de l’autonomisation. Les opportunités offertes au public des APA par une approche éthique et réflexive rendent possible, on tente de le montrer, une vue plurielle du monde, où la différence n’est plus considérée comme anormale ou discriminante.
Mots-clés : Activités physiques adaptées (APA) - Autodétermination - Autonomisation - Capacités - Développement humain - Nussbaum - Sen.
Human development and capabilities approach: Does APA need it?
Summary: This chapter explores the importance of grounding Adapted Physical Activity (APA) in an ethical framework that we believe helps to keep practice aligned with the fields’ proclaimed mission. In doing so, it highlights a void in critical reflection upon ethical issues within APA contexts. We defend a capabilities approach (Sen, 2009; Nussbaum, 2006) as a tool to eliminate social oppression and deprivation that are still associated with difference. We argue that a holistic understanding of human development in APA is superior to the current vision of empowerment and self-determination celebrated within APA circles. The opportunities offered for APA’s clients through ethical reasoning that is self-reflective must enable a pluralistic view of the world where difference is not treated as abnormal or inferior.
Keywords: Adapted Physical Activity (APA) - Capabilities approach - Empowerment - Human development - Nussbaum - Self-determination - Sen.
This essay examines the ideals and values of Olympism and Paralympism andtheir relationship in th... more This essay examines the ideals and values of Olympism and Paralympism andtheir relationship in the context of sponsor-led Corporate Social Responsibilityinitiatives at the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. TheOlympic Games are unique in how they are accompanied by a published desirefor the advancement of both sport and society. They are not just about sport.Their success demands the fulfilment of broader social objectives – whichLondon 2012 will pursue on an unprecedented scale (Department for Culture,Media & Sport 2008; 2010). The support of private sector sponsors is and will becritical to this, and their contribution can be seen as an example of CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR), a concept that will be the focus of this essay. Thediscussion first examines both Olympism and Paralympism at a theoretical level.We then discuss how each can inform the implementation of CSR at London2012. Finally, examples of private sector CSR schemes at the Games will beexamined in order to better illustrate the confluence between Olympism,Paralympism, modern business and society. We contend that Paralympism -which is often overlooked in public discussion - can broaden the debate aroundOlympism and business, and we also hope that the following discussion can helpdemonstrate the impact of Olympism upon the business of contemporary sport.
Abstract Word Count = 220
This article provides a critical overview of the viability of the “supercrip” iconography as an a... more This article provides a critical overview of the viability of the “supercrip” iconography as an appropriate representation of Paralympic athletes. It focuses on its validity as a vehicle for the empowerment of individuals with impairments both within the context of elite sport and broader society. This type of representation may be seen by the able moral majority as enlightened. However, supercrip narratives may have a negative impact on the physical and social development of disabled individuals by reinforcing what could be termed “achievement syndrome”—the impaired are successful in spite of their disability. The authors will focus on the implications of the use of language and images embodied in supercrip iconography, relying on examples of two European Paralympic awareness campaigns disseminated through mainstream media.
Difference, adapted physical activity and human development: potential contribution of capabilities approach
This paper is a call to Adapted Physical Activity (APA) professionals to increase the reflexive n... more This paper is a call to Adapted Physical Activity (APA) professionals to increase the reflexive nature of their practice. Drawing upon Foucault’s concept of governmentality (1977) APA action may work against its own publicized goals of empowerment and self-determination. To highlight these inconsistencies, we will draw upon historical and social factors that explain the implicit dangers of practice not following policy. We propose that APA practitioners work according to ethical guidelines, based upon a capabilities approach (Nussbaum, 2006, 2011; Sen, 2009) to counteract possible adverse effects of APA practitioner action. A capabilities approach is conducive to the development of each individual’s human potential, by holistically considering the consequences of physical activity (i.e., biological, cultural, social, and psychological dimensions). To conclude, this paper will offer suggestions that may lead to an ethical reflection aligned with the best interest of APA’s users.
Talks by Carla Filomena Silva
Accepting Nussbaum’s list of central capabilities as an ethically robust ground from which to ass... more Accepting Nussbaum’s list of central capabilities as an ethically robust ground from which to assess the potential for human development offered by an area of human activity such as disability sport, this presentation focuses upon the role of movement and the exploitation of bodily possibilities as crucially significant to the achievement of minimal thresholds of Nussbaum’s capabilities’ list. The rationale for this line of argument is driven by philosophical accounts that emphasize the centrality of movement in the embodied human experience such as Husserlian phenomenology as developed by Merleau Ponty (1962), but also from cross disciplinary discussions over the problem mind/body/consciousness that completely deny the Cartesian mind/body separateness (Johnson, 1987; Sheets-Johnstone, 1999). This paper will consider some of the capabilities where human embodiment may be difficult to assess as vital, like affiliation and control over one´s environment. Sociological accounts illuminated in the works of Bourdieu (1977), Foucault (1977) and Schilling (1993), offer significant evidence of the social value of human embodiment and its impact upon life conditions.
Although the opportunities to explore the potentialities of human embodiment might be seen as sufficient for mainstream population, this is yet not the norm when considering social minorities such as of people with physical impairments. A superficial assessment may considered this inequality of little importance, however the argument provided in the first part of this paper points to the serious consequences of this inequality in central capabilities, and therefore can be considered as a serious threat to goals of social justice and human development.
All the “adapted” structures of physical education, physical activity and sport are especially relevant in cases where opportunities for extensive development of bodily possibilities through movement might be hindered by social prejudices and lack of institutional support for “different” bodies, traditionally classified as “disabled”. Nevertheless, due to the dominant “normalization” of modern societies (Foucault, 1977) and to the historical and consistent oppression of people with disabilities through services intended to respond to their needs (Shakespeare, 2006). As a result, the validity of these structures and related practices ought to be critically evaluated.
Using sport and physical activity, the second part of the paper will critically discuss the obstacles and opportunities that may hinder or advance the whole collective of capabilities for people with disabilities within the context of disability sport, adapted physical education and adapted physical activity. Based upon phenomenological data gathered within the Paralympic Movement and the professional field of Adapted Physical Activity it will be argued that these cultural settings can work in the positive sense as catalysts to the “empowerment” and development of people with disabilities but can also negatively function as vehicles to the reinforcement of normalized and “beautiful” bodies as a social ideal of human embodiment.
To conclude, it is argued that not only extensive and high quality efforts toward the full development of the potential embedded in human embodiment are a matter of urgency for persons with disabilities but also that the insights provided by capabilities approach can provide the ethical compass needed to increase the chances that “adapted” physical activity programs lead to effective impact in people’s central capabilities.
Keywords: Capabilities, Disability Sport, Embodiment, Movement, Paralympic.
References
Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish : The birth of the prison. New York: Pantheon Books.
Johnson, M.,. (1987). The body in the mind : The bodily basis of meaning, imagination, and reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Merleau-Ponty, M.,. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. New York: Humanities Press.
Shakespeare, T. (2006). Disability rights and wrongs. London; New York: Routledge.
Sheets-Johnstone, M. (1999). The primacy of movement. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.
Shilling, C. (1993). The body and social theory. London; Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications.
This is not a disability ghetto! Assessing capabilities in the ‘developing’ world of sitting voll... more This is not a disability ghetto! Assessing capabilities in the ‘developing’ world of sitting volleyball
Carla F. Silva and P. David Howe
Peter Harrison for Disability Sport,
Loughborough University
In this paper we will explore the practicality of measuring capabilities in the cultural context of the development of sitting volleyball in the United Kingdom. The world of sitting volleyball is besieged by conflict in regards to how to best organise the sport for long-term sustainability. Sitting volleyball programmes established by Volleyball England have impacted upon the practice community but has this been an enhancement or a hindrance in the lives of the sportsmen and women who engage in the sport. Of particular interest is how the rules and regulations around minimal disability are administered and policed within the sport. Drawing upon data collected over a two year ethnographic study of the development in sitting volleyball this paper will highlight the utility of a capabilities approach to analyse whether the practise of the sport is a good vehicle for the empowerment of individuals with impairments.
Using a Capabilities Approach within APA Practice
By Carla F. Silva and P. David Howe (Loughboro... more Using a Capabilities Approach within APA Practice
By Carla F. Silva and P. David Howe (Loughborough University)
This paper explores the importance of grounding adapted physical activity (APA) in an ethical framework which highlights the need of the disability industry to pay heed to issues of social justice. Initially the paper explores the published discourses (statements and visions) related both to current research and practitioner organisations associated with APA. In doing so the paper highlights a void of critical reflection upon ethical issues within APA contexts. Because social oppression and deprivation are still associated with disability, empowerment and self-determination have been emphasized as priority goals within disability sport and APA. These concepts are often attached to specific visions of the world that may not always conform to the values of the person that is supposed to be “empowered”. The important question is not only if people with impairments are engaging in sport and physical activity, but whether they are being offered freedom to choose what is valuable and appropriate for them. Freedom to choose implies social respect for diversity of values. The opportunities offered for impaired individuals must reflect a pluralistic view of the world where difference is not treated as abnormal or inferior. Using a capabilities approach that has been successfully implemented in discussions of social justice and development drawing upon both Sen’s The Idea of justice (2009) and Nussbaum’s Frontiers of justice, disability, nationality, species membership (2006) we suggest practical applications of their ethical reasoning for APA practitioner. It is paramount to realise the importance of individual rights and freedoms in the development of APA programmes that should be designed in conjunction with impaired communities while acknowledging the heterogeneous nature of these population.
"The role of sport for a global ethics on disability/impairment
Fifty years ago, Marshall McLu... more "The role of sport for a global ethics on disability/impairment
Fifty years ago, Marshall McLuhan (1962) used the term “global village” to anticipate the interdependent and interrelated world we have today and, with it, the heightened awareness and increasing responsibility that each man, nation and culture possess in its making (1964). This human consciousness of wholeness led philosophers, religious and political leaders to preach a “global ethics” as an imperative for human development (Singer, 2004). Transferring the concept of global ethics to the field of political philosophy, Martha Nussbaum points to disability as one of the critical failures of global justice, offering a normative approach of social justice as a contribute for its solution (2006). Drawing upon Nussbaum’s conception of basic human dignity dependent on minimum levels on ten central capabilities, this paper will develop the thesis that sport (in the broad sense as to encompass all activities of movement) plays a structural role in guaranteeing conditions for the development of these capabilities for people experiencing disabilities. The main argument of this position lies on the essentiality of movement for all dimensions of human life, as “primal animation”; a concept originated in Husserlian phenomenology and extensively supported by Sheets- Johnstone (2011) with evidence and contribution from multiple disciplines (such as evolutionary biology, anthropology, philosophy of mind, neurosciences, among others). Whereas human beings whose physicality falls under the boundaries of “able-bodieness” may have sufficient opportunities to develop through and with movement (even outside formal sport contexts); people with impairments are more likely to be curtailed in their opportunities to explore movement, therefore adequate sport activities have the potential to partially fill in the void and play an initial critical role in their social emancipation. Connecting global ethics/justice, central human capabilities and the primacy of movement with empirical research on the development of sitting volleyball in Britain and other practical examples, this paper will illuminate why access to sport activities for people with impairments ought to be considered a critically urgent issue within the field of philosophy of sport.
References
McLuhan, M. (1962). The Gutenberg galaxy: The making of typographic man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Nussbaum, M. (2006). Frontiers of justice: Disability, identity, species membership. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press.
Sheets-Johnstone, M. (2011). The primacy of movement. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Singer, P. (2004). One world: The ethics of globalization. New Haven: Yale University Press."
“Sitting down and playing the game. What’s in it for me?”Assessing the impact of developments in ... more “Sitting down and playing the game. What’s in it for me?”Assessing the impact of developments in sitting volleyball in the United Kingdom
Carla F. Silva and P. David Howe
Peter Harrison for Disability Sport,
Loughborough University
A capabilities approach has been successfully used in non-sporting settings to centre the assessment of activities and programmes on their impact upon the “real” lives of the people for which they are designed (Alkire, 2002; Wolff & De-Shalit, 2007). Drawing upon data collected over a two year ethnographic study of the development in sitting volleyball, this paper will highlight the utility of a capabilities approach to analyse whether the practise of the sport is an effective vehicle for the empowerment of individuals with impairments. We will be exploring the methodological salience of combining a capabilities approach with ethnographic data collection within the field of sitting volleyball. In doing this, we will highlight a number of themes emerging from the data that illuminate the ways in which participation in sitting volleyball contributes to and/or hinders the expansion of individual capabilities of people with impairments.
References
Alkire, S. (2002). Valuing freedoms : Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Wolff, J., & De-Shalit, A. (2007). Disadvantage. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Blog texts by Carla Filomena Silva
Hoje morreu um dos grandes heróis desportivos portugueses, Eusébio da Silva Ferreira. Eusébio foi... more Hoje morreu um dos grandes heróis desportivos portugueses, Eusébio da Silva Ferreira. Eusébio foi e é para muitas gerações um catalisador de sonhos, muitos meninos cresceram ambicionando um dia poder ser assim, a paixão pura em cada passe, finta e pontapé na bola. Eusébio e futebol eram um só.
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Papers by Carla Filomena Silva
In this paper, we explore the significance of parasport in highlighting an emancipatory understanding of difference and enhancing social empowerment. By illuminating the influence of ableist ideology upon people with impairments we draw upon the field of disability studies. We ultimately argue that rather than being supressed, difference should be recognised and valued in parasport practices and ideologies, leading to a pluralist culture, in which further and wider social emancipation can be grounded. Acceptance of difference is an absolute and essential precondition for parasport cultures to promote positive social change for people with disabilities.
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article for publication by Elsevier:
SILVA, C. F. and HOWE, P. D. 2018. The social empowerment of difference: the potential influence of parasport. Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinics of North America, In Press.
© <2018>. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
In this paper, we highlight the need to explore the excessive
significance given to the Paralympic Games as a vehicle for the
encouragement of participation of people with a disability within
sport. The media spectacle around the games that the International
Paralympic Committee (IPC) has worked tirelessly to develop has
become, for policy-makers and the public alike, a sufficient outlet for
disability sport provision. The honourable goals of the IPC articulated
through the ethos of Paralympism have been assumed to be valid for
all people with a disability, yet in terms of widening participation, their
utility is limited. This paper first illuminates the relationship between
the International Olympic Committee and the IPC before we turn our
attention to the ethos of Paralympism. Highlighting the necessity
for ‘sport for all’, we use a human rights lens, aided by a capabilities
approach to facilitate better ways to educate the public about the
need for equality of access to sporting participation opportunities.
Power and empowerment are thus central concepts to any discussion of
media representations of disability and disability sport. These concepts run
through our chapter contributions examining media narratives, but are also
central to understanding how the Paralympics was experienced: by disabled
people, non-disabled people and the athletes themselves. The concept of
empowerment is not a straightforward one, though. It implies the acquisition
of power—presumably from a prior state of ineffi cacy, power itself
being the ability to act or take decisions in ways that affect self and/or others
(Staples, 1990). But as David Howe and Carla Silva argue in Chapter
13 , we need to clarify who are the main targets of this empowerment.
In the context of disability sport, the word ‘empowerment’ is traditionally
connected to the generalised assumption that the athletes who participate in
the Paralympics, and the groups of people they supposedly represent (‘the
disabled’), are in a position of social disadvantage, that they are ‘disempowered’,
which enough evidence would support. However, as becomes clear in
a number of our contributions, there is a need to make a distinction between
the empowerment of the athletes who participate in the Paralympics and the
empowerment of disabled people within society. (p. 2, from the Introduction)
However, to date, tools to empirically assess the validity of this assumption are scarce and underdeveloped (Hutzler, 2OO8; Reid,2OO3; Silva & Howe,2O12). Drawing upon a three-year ethnographic investigation into the culture of sitting volleyball (SV) in the United Kingdom (UK) aimed at evaluating the impact of the sport on the personal capabilities of players with impairments, we defend that the human development focus of capabilities approach offers ethical, conceptual and methodological guidance essential to evaluate APA potential to promote the empowerment of its public. Because this approach
is grounded in the defense of essential values of a life
worthy of human dignity such as freedom, agency and
self-determination (Nussbaum, 2006, 2011; Sen, 1999, 2009), this connection would also help ApA to reinforce its social legitimacy. The present paper ouflines this study's methodological design and presents a summary of significant findings.
Carla Filomena Silva, David Howe
Résumé : Cet article souligne l’importance d’inscrire les Activités physiques adaptées (APA) dans un cadre éthique. Lequel, à notre avis, permet de maintenir ces activités dans le droit-fil de la mission qui leur est dévolue. L’auteur met en lumière une relative carence dans la réflexion critique sur les questions éthiques concernant les APA. Il réaffirme l’intérêt d’une approche par les capacités, en tant qu’outil visant à éliminer les dépendances et privations sociales qui sont encore trop souvent associées à la différence. Une compréhension globale du développement humain dans les APA s’avère plus pertinente que la vision actuelle privilégiée, celle de l’autonomisation. Les opportunités offertes au public des APA par une approche éthique et réflexive rendent possible, on tente de le montrer, une vue plurielle du monde, où la différence n’est plus considérée comme anormale ou discriminante.
Mots-clés : Activités physiques adaptées (APA) - Autodétermination - Autonomisation - Capacités - Développement humain - Nussbaum - Sen.
Human development and capabilities approach: Does APA need it?
Summary: This chapter explores the importance of grounding Adapted Physical Activity (APA) in an ethical framework that we believe helps to keep practice aligned with the fields’ proclaimed mission. In doing so, it highlights a void in critical reflection upon ethical issues within APA contexts. We defend a capabilities approach (Sen, 2009; Nussbaum, 2006) as a tool to eliminate social oppression and deprivation that are still associated with difference. We argue that a holistic understanding of human development in APA is superior to the current vision of empowerment and self-determination celebrated within APA circles. The opportunities offered for APA’s clients through ethical reasoning that is self-reflective must enable a pluralistic view of the world where difference is not treated as abnormal or inferior.
Keywords: Adapted Physical Activity (APA) - Capabilities approach - Empowerment - Human development - Nussbaum - Self-determination - Sen.
Abstract Word Count = 220
Talks by Carla Filomena Silva
Although the opportunities to explore the potentialities of human embodiment might be seen as sufficient for mainstream population, this is yet not the norm when considering social minorities such as of people with physical impairments. A superficial assessment may considered this inequality of little importance, however the argument provided in the first part of this paper points to the serious consequences of this inequality in central capabilities, and therefore can be considered as a serious threat to goals of social justice and human development.
All the “adapted” structures of physical education, physical activity and sport are especially relevant in cases where opportunities for extensive development of bodily possibilities through movement might be hindered by social prejudices and lack of institutional support for “different” bodies, traditionally classified as “disabled”. Nevertheless, due to the dominant “normalization” of modern societies (Foucault, 1977) and to the historical and consistent oppression of people with disabilities through services intended to respond to their needs (Shakespeare, 2006). As a result, the validity of these structures and related practices ought to be critically evaluated.
Using sport and physical activity, the second part of the paper will critically discuss the obstacles and opportunities that may hinder or advance the whole collective of capabilities for people with disabilities within the context of disability sport, adapted physical education and adapted physical activity. Based upon phenomenological data gathered within the Paralympic Movement and the professional field of Adapted Physical Activity it will be argued that these cultural settings can work in the positive sense as catalysts to the “empowerment” and development of people with disabilities but can also negatively function as vehicles to the reinforcement of normalized and “beautiful” bodies as a social ideal of human embodiment.
To conclude, it is argued that not only extensive and high quality efforts toward the full development of the potential embedded in human embodiment are a matter of urgency for persons with disabilities but also that the insights provided by capabilities approach can provide the ethical compass needed to increase the chances that “adapted” physical activity programs lead to effective impact in people’s central capabilities.
Keywords: Capabilities, Disability Sport, Embodiment, Movement, Paralympic.
References
Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish : The birth of the prison. New York: Pantheon Books.
Johnson, M.,. (1987). The body in the mind : The bodily basis of meaning, imagination, and reason. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Merleau-Ponty, M.,. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. New York: Humanities Press.
Shakespeare, T. (2006). Disability rights and wrongs. London; New York: Routledge.
Sheets-Johnstone, M. (1999). The primacy of movement. Amsterdam: J. Benjamins.
Shilling, C. (1993). The body and social theory. London; Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage Publications.
Carla F. Silva and P. David Howe
Peter Harrison for Disability Sport,
Loughborough University
In this paper we will explore the practicality of measuring capabilities in the cultural context of the development of sitting volleyball in the United Kingdom. The world of sitting volleyball is besieged by conflict in regards to how to best organise the sport for long-term sustainability. Sitting volleyball programmes established by Volleyball England have impacted upon the practice community but has this been an enhancement or a hindrance in the lives of the sportsmen and women who engage in the sport. Of particular interest is how the rules and regulations around minimal disability are administered and policed within the sport. Drawing upon data collected over a two year ethnographic study of the development in sitting volleyball this paper will highlight the utility of a capabilities approach to analyse whether the practise of the sport is a good vehicle for the empowerment of individuals with impairments.
By Carla F. Silva and P. David Howe (Loughborough University)
This paper explores the importance of grounding adapted physical activity (APA) in an ethical framework which highlights the need of the disability industry to pay heed to issues of social justice. Initially the paper explores the published discourses (statements and visions) related both to current research and practitioner organisations associated with APA. In doing so the paper highlights a void of critical reflection upon ethical issues within APA contexts. Because social oppression and deprivation are still associated with disability, empowerment and self-determination have been emphasized as priority goals within disability sport and APA. These concepts are often attached to specific visions of the world that may not always conform to the values of the person that is supposed to be “empowered”. The important question is not only if people with impairments are engaging in sport and physical activity, but whether they are being offered freedom to choose what is valuable and appropriate for them. Freedom to choose implies social respect for diversity of values. The opportunities offered for impaired individuals must reflect a pluralistic view of the world where difference is not treated as abnormal or inferior. Using a capabilities approach that has been successfully implemented in discussions of social justice and development drawing upon both Sen’s The Idea of justice (2009) and Nussbaum’s Frontiers of justice, disability, nationality, species membership (2006) we suggest practical applications of their ethical reasoning for APA practitioner. It is paramount to realise the importance of individual rights and freedoms in the development of APA programmes that should be designed in conjunction with impaired communities while acknowledging the heterogeneous nature of these population.
Fifty years ago, Marshall McLuhan (1962) used the term “global village” to anticipate the interdependent and interrelated world we have today and, with it, the heightened awareness and increasing responsibility that each man, nation and culture possess in its making (1964). This human consciousness of wholeness led philosophers, religious and political leaders to preach a “global ethics” as an imperative for human development (Singer, 2004). Transferring the concept of global ethics to the field of political philosophy, Martha Nussbaum points to disability as one of the critical failures of global justice, offering a normative approach of social justice as a contribute for its solution (2006). Drawing upon Nussbaum’s conception of basic human dignity dependent on minimum levels on ten central capabilities, this paper will develop the thesis that sport (in the broad sense as to encompass all activities of movement) plays a structural role in guaranteeing conditions for the development of these capabilities for people experiencing disabilities. The main argument of this position lies on the essentiality of movement for all dimensions of human life, as “primal animation”; a concept originated in Husserlian phenomenology and extensively supported by Sheets- Johnstone (2011) with evidence and contribution from multiple disciplines (such as evolutionary biology, anthropology, philosophy of mind, neurosciences, among others). Whereas human beings whose physicality falls under the boundaries of “able-bodieness” may have sufficient opportunities to develop through and with movement (even outside formal sport contexts); people with impairments are more likely to be curtailed in their opportunities to explore movement, therefore adequate sport activities have the potential to partially fill in the void and play an initial critical role in their social emancipation. Connecting global ethics/justice, central human capabilities and the primacy of movement with empirical research on the development of sitting volleyball in Britain and other practical examples, this paper will illuminate why access to sport activities for people with impairments ought to be considered a critically urgent issue within the field of philosophy of sport.
References
McLuhan, M. (1962). The Gutenberg galaxy: The making of typographic man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding media: The extensions of man. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Nussbaum, M. (2006). Frontiers of justice: Disability, identity, species membership. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press.
Sheets-Johnstone, M. (2011). The primacy of movement. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Singer, P. (2004). One world: The ethics of globalization. New Haven: Yale University Press."
Carla F. Silva and P. David Howe
Peter Harrison for Disability Sport,
Loughborough University
A capabilities approach has been successfully used in non-sporting settings to centre the assessment of activities and programmes on their impact upon the “real” lives of the people for which they are designed (Alkire, 2002; Wolff & De-Shalit, 2007). Drawing upon data collected over a two year ethnographic study of the development in sitting volleyball, this paper will highlight the utility of a capabilities approach to analyse whether the practise of the sport is an effective vehicle for the empowerment of individuals with impairments. We will be exploring the methodological salience of combining a capabilities approach with ethnographic data collection within the field of sitting volleyball. In doing this, we will highlight a number of themes emerging from the data that illuminate the ways in which participation in sitting volleyball contributes to and/or hinders the expansion of individual capabilities of people with impairments.
References
Alkire, S. (2002). Valuing freedoms : Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Wolff, J., & De-Shalit, A. (2007). Disadvantage. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Blog texts by Carla Filomena Silva