New Disability Mobilities and Accessibilities in Urban India

This article analyzes mobilities and accessibilities in urban India in relation to disability in India. The concept of disability has become a privileged site for the state and NGOs to situate development interventions and for corporations to engage in corporate social responsibility initiatives. These state, NGO, and corporate efforts are directed at a specific kind of disabled individual and are heavily based upon market logics. Utilizing data from disability‐related conferences held in New Delhi and Bangalore, and other initiatives developing in these cities for disabled people, this article critically examines new disability mobilities and accessibilities and argues that a new assemblage of state, NGO, and corporation is forming around disability and giving rise to a new “disability marketplace.” This article calls for analysts and activists working in the arena of disability to be more specific in their treatment of the concepts of mobility and accessibility, and more aware of the consequences of reifying the concept of disability.