On the basis of a longstanding cooperation between the University of Innsbruck and the University of New Orleans we are organizing another conference on the topic of disability. In 2017, the Symposium“Families, Rights and Disability”will take place supported by the Center Austria and the Center New Orleans. During this international, interdisciplinary symposium, we will discuss family research and the social understanding of disability, following the paradigm shift that took place with the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The family is often considered an anthropological constant. However, empirical research shows that the traditional nuclear family (mother, father, children) within Western societies is but one of many possible forms. Also, its trajectories, its intergenerational relations and the experiences of its members vary greatly with the social, cultural, political, and technological situations in which families find themselves. Weiterlesen →