Disability as a ‘New’ Global Social Theme: The Role of International Organizations in an Expanding Global Policy Field

Abstract

Disability as a global social policy issue has gained increasing importance during recent decades, partly due to a shift in conceptualization from a medical to a social perspective on disability. This new relevance has led to the emergence of a global organizational field around the topic, with a high involvement of International Organizations (IOs). In order to investigate the population of IOs in the field, this chapter identifies influential actors, relates them to the main discourses, and maps their relations. It can be seen that agencies of the United Nations have become the key actors in promoting the rights-based social perspective and the monitoring of the implementation of disability rights. In contrast, the World Health Organization is still the leading organization in the provision of medical classification systems. Overall, it can be noted that the organizational field leaves space for IOs to influence the direction of global and national disability policy.