Ilan Wiesel

Encounter as a dimension of social inclusion for people with intellectual disability: Beyond and between community presence and participation

edu.au Since the early 1980s, disability policy has envisioned the social inclusion of people with intellectual disability in a broadly similar manner — as participation in community life. The 1986 Australian Disability Services Act aimed to “ enhance the quality of life experienced by people with a disability by assisting them to live as valued and participating members of the community. ” A similar theme is replicated in more recent Australian and international disability policy that commit governments to the full inclusion and participation in the community by people with a disability (United Nations, 2006).

Being Recognised and Becoming Known: Encounters between People with and without Intellectual Disability in the Public Realm

The social inclusion of people with intellectual disability has typically been defined and measured in terms of their ‘presence’ and ‘participation’ in community life. In this paper we point to a very wide spectrum of social interactions—or ‘encounters’—between people with and without intellectual disability which fall into neither category. We offer the concepts of ‘being recognised’ and ‘becoming known’ to describe encounters which are neither passive presence in the community nor the fully fledged relationships of community participation. Rather, these concepts can be used to describe the day-to-day experiences of people with intellectual disability negotiating their use of public spaces and facilities in ways which can at times be different from prevailing norms. Based on a survey and interviews with local residents in three metropolitan suburbs and one country town in the State of Victoria, Australia, we analyse the social and spatial dynamics influencing the frequency and nature of encounters between people with and without intellectual disability.

Movement on Shifting Sands: Deinstitutionalisation and People with Intellectual Disability in Australia, 1974–2014

This article reviews four decades of deinstitutionalisation policies in three Australian states, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. It seeks to understand the factors influencing the slow and haphazard progression of the movement and its more contested outcomes such as the redevelopment of some institutions and their replacement with other congregate or cluster housing models that are at odds with the original visions of community care and normalisation. The article highlights the consistent and effective opposition to deinstitutionalisation from some families of institution residents, and the shifting policy frameworks and ideologies—from ‘normalisation’ to ‘choice’—in which it progressed. In particular, the article highlights the intersections between deinstitutionalisation and urban policy. The article is based on a review of existing scholarly literature, policy documents, inquiry reports and media sources.

Mobilities of Disadvantage: The Housing Pathways of Low-income Australians

Mobility is often overlooked in debates about spatial disadvantage, which tend to focus on place. In this paper, the focus is on residential mobility and the ways in which it derives from, and contributes to, processes of social disadvantage. Building on David Clapham’s concept of ‘housing pathways’, mobility-based disadvantage is analysed with a focus on questions of housing quality, control over residential moves and accumulation of economic, social and cultural capital through such moves. These themes are considered in an empirical study of the housing pathways of sixty low-income households in Australia, through which four typical patterns are identified as ‘mobilities of disadvantage’: hectic private rental pathways; pathways of homelessness; pathways out of homeownership; and, repeat moves in and out of social housing. These pathways represent one neglected aspect of the ‘unfair structure’ of the Australian city, as a network of pathways rather than a mosaic of places.

Community and the geography of people with intellectual disability

In their localized forms it is often hard to tell exclusion from inclusion, due to the complex multidimensional nature of these processes. In this paper I argue that an analytical distinction between various types and elements of community is necessary in order to make sense of exclusion, and in order to develop appropriate strategies to facilitate inclusion for marginalized populations. This issue is discussed in the context of people with intellectual disabilities and the community-care movement in the State of Victoria, Australia. Community-care relies on a range of interpretations of the notion of community, and is implemented within a variety of actual communities, giving rise to different forms of exclusion and different strategies of inclusion.

‘Do You Think I’m Stupid?’: Urban Encounters between People with and without Intellectual Disability

Being amongst strangers is a definitive aspect of life in the modern city. To understand social inclusion in cities, it is necessary to consider not only the strength and extent of social networks of familiarity, but also the role of interactions with strangers in the public realm. People with intellectual disability are considered one of the most marginalised groups in society and the study applies the concept of encounter to offer a new perspective on their inclusion/exclusion, informed by contemporary urban theory rather than more nostalgic notions of community. The paper discusses encounters between people with and without intellectual disability in one suburb in Melbourne, Australia. The study is based, primarily, on field observations in a variety of settings in the public realm. Through analysis of these data, a typology of urban encounters is proposed that involves people with and without intellectual disability.

The Choice Agenda in Disability Housing Provision

The notion of choice is emerging as fundamental to new approaches to the provision of housing for people with intellectual disabilities. In order to achieve a more coherent and informed understanding of choice as a basis for theory, policy and practice in housing for people with intellectual disabilities, what is necessary is a clearer understanding of the complexities and tensions inherent in the idea of choice and their implications. Therefore, this paper considers three main themes which give rise to a more critical conceptualization of choice: a tension between the formalist and the redistributive approach to social justice; a tension between the individuality implied by choice and the community-care ethos of disability housing; and the institutional implications of the choice agenda within and beyond state-administration. The manifestation of these tensions is illustrated using a case study: housing for people with intellectual disabilities in the State of Victoria, Australia.

Can Ageing Improve Neighbourhoods? Revisiting Neighbourhood Life-Cycle Theory

Abstract Neighbourhood life-cycle theory has provided some important insights into the question of how population ageing may influence local neighbourhoods. But this theory has been rightly criticized by urban scholars for its deterministic and highly pessimistic approach. More recent theoretical ideas about “positive ageing” challenge the underlying pessimistic view of ageing in neighbourhood life-cycle theory, and provide opportunities to consider new and more optimistic conceptualizations of neighbourhood ageing. This paper provides a brief review of some of the key literature underpinning neighbourhood life-cycle theory and, drawing on some of its principal concepts, proposes two hypothetical neighbourhood life-cycle scenarios, one “pessimistic” and the other “optimistic”, which represent two ends of a full spectrum of neighbourhood life cycles.

Supersized Australian Dream: Investment, Lifestyle and Neighbourhood Perceptions among “Knockdown-Rebuild” Owners in Sydney

ABSTRACT Increasingly popular “supersized” dwellings, often twice as big as the traditional detached suburban house, have been widely criticized on social, environmental, economic and aesthetic grounds. This paper examines the emergence of infill-supersized dwellings in the older post-war suburbs of Sydney, Australia, through piecemeal replacement of older houses in a process known as knockdown-rebuild. The paper explores the reasons which encourage owners to build supersized houses, demonstrating the prominence of speculative aspirations, supported by Australian tax policies. It considers the consumption of supersized dwellings, and the implications for contemporary suburban lifestyles and communities. This paper concludes that infill-supersized dwellings ultimately represent a process of accentuating existing patterns of suburban settlement in Australia as opposed to a new departure.

Owner-Driven Suburban Renewal: Motivations, Risks and Strategies in ‘Knockdown and Rebuild’ Processes in Sydney, Australia

Decisions by individual owners about reinvesting capital in their homes are important drivers of wider processes of suburban renewal. This paper examines the motivations for owners in mostly middle-ring suburbs of Sydney, Australia, to reinvest through ‘knockdown and rebuild’ (KDR). This process—not unique to Australia—involves the wholesale demolition of older detached houses and their replacement with completely new dwellings. Until recently, existing literature on housing reinvestment has focused on practices such as renovations or modifications to existing dwellings. Yet, KDR is becoming increasingly popular and moreover appears to involve a distinctive set of actors, drivers and potential impacts. On the basis of a statistical survey of activity followed up by a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews, the general scale and attributes of KDR are summarised and then explored to discern the main perceived benefits, risks and types of development scenarios pursued. The results reveal a genuine diversity of motivations and circumstances involved in this latest physical makeover of the traditional Australian suburb.