From a Latin American – and more in general from a Global South – perspective, it is inevitable to see intersectionality through the lens of socio-economic inequality. One of the footprints of Latin American countries, for example, is the strong correlation between ethnic background and socio economic status [1]. This can be illustrated with the following caricature: if your last name has indigenous roots, most likely you belong to the lower-income quantile. If your last name, instead, comes from Italian, German, Basque, French, or English roots, high chances are that you belong to the upper classes, who have ruled Latin American countries since the beginning of the colonisation.
This inequality not only covers the ethnic spectrum, but it permeates through the disability, gender, cultural and belief realms. For example, disability is a complete different experience if you have social and economic capital than not (of course, this is not exclusive for Latin America). Not even the conditions of living in disability change with our without money , but even the causes of disability are somewhat different. While genetic conditions and accidents occur across all social classes, people living in poverty are disproportionately exposed to preventable risk factors associated with disability, including inadequate prenatal care, birth complications, malnutrition, environmental hazards, infectious diseases, and limited access to healthcare [2]. As a result, disability is not only experienced differently across social groups; in many cases, the pathways leading to disability are themselves structured by inequality.
The socio-economic factor is so strong, that it sometimes builds completely differing narratives around disability. When I see or read about outstanding hopeful cases like Nick Vujicic – the famous motivational speaker that has overcome his physical disabilities in fascinating ways – I can’t help but to think how different would be such reality for someone born in the Global South, with a non-European last name, maybe living in a rural area of the southern Latin America.
These realities make very evident to me that capitalism has created this illusion of self-built success, that you can overcome every obstacle, that you can thrive even in the worst of the circumstances. But of course, the circumstances build you as well, and the material conditions or cultural capital can substantially shape a “successful story of overcoming disability” (without taking credit to the massive and spectacular achievement that is to build a positive narrative from a disabled reality).
Inequality, in large extent a result of capitalist life, accentuates anyone in a vulnerable position, including the disabled. It makes them more invisible, less empowered, and hopeless.
References:
- Telles, E. E. (2014). Pigmentocracies: Ethnicity, race, and color in Latin America. UNC Press Books.
- https://www.paho.org/en/topics/social-determinants-health
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