Disability and Embodiment in Namibia: Religious and Cultural Perspectives

该项目涉足研究不足的领域（非洲残疾研究和纳米比亚残疾的宗教文化叙事），将建立一个“纳米比亚多元机构”网络，由纳米比亚大学和埃克塞特大学、纳米比亚全国残疾人联合会和纳米比亚福音派路德教会共同创建。宗教文化态度可以被纳入残疾叙事，无论是关于疾病，还是特定残疾（身体/感官/精神）的经历，以及与性别和性有关的残疾。例如，疾病可能与罪恶或精神痛苦有关，残疾人可能会遇到缺陷、怜悯或需要治疗的感觉。性别作为残疾意味着妇女受到父权制的宗教或文化态度的影响，这可能是基于性别的暴力祸害的基础。关于宗教和文化权威在性问题上的地位的争论，在缺乏细微差别的情况下，引发了一场两极分化的辩论。纳米比亚殖民遗产造成的严重不平等由于种族和民族的分裂而更加严重，并与之交织在一起。这些不受控制的不平等加剧了贫困、排斥和缺乏福祉的经历。该项目最初将侧重于对残疾的传统理解。我们将记录纳米比亚身体和精神疾病的生活经历，以及教会的反应，并根据圣经和当地文化资源开发一套教育方案，以解决边缘化的话语。考虑到上下文圣经研究被用于解决南部非洲的社会不公正问题，在90%的人口是基督徒的背景下，上下文圣经研究被选为一种适当的方法来补充残疾研究。该网络将逐步扩大到纳米比亚成熟的、开拓性的活动倡导团体的合作者，这些团体关注社会正义、发展和残疾/性别/LGBTQI+权利。在这个论坛上，学术和活动家倡导团体可以与教会代表合作，共同探索和质疑围绕着不同化身体验的主流宗教和文化叙事。它将考虑传教士-殖民的“规范性”叙事在多大程度上被采纳，并被重新塑造和排练为不可侵犯的、基督教的和/或土著的叙事。然后，它将根据联合国2030年议程“不让任何一个人掉队”的目标，考虑如何利用这些宗教文化资源促进平等、包容和多样性。该网络将汇集专门知识，研究残疾人所遭受的不成比例的致贫影响：丧失权力、边缘化、污名化、获得保健和教育的机会不足、社会经济斗争，甚至暴力。该网络将就以下四个主题交流知识和进一步合作：1 .整理和突出残疾的贫困经验2。从残疾人及其倡导者的角度理解挑战和优先事项。绘制和质疑宗教和文化的包容/排斥叙事。处理宗教和文化的包容/排斥叙事，以促进包容、平等和多样性，从而最大限度地发挥发展潜力。该网络将在三个讲习班上召集参与者，并在全年试用资源。它利用了宗教和社会正义方面的大量区域学术专长，从而促进了“南南”合作以及英国与中低收入国家的合作。该网络的成员将促进以纳米比亚为中心的方法来促进平等和多样性，避免引进西方方法来体现多样性的陷阱。

Venturing into under-researched areas (disability studies in Africa and the religio-cultural narratives of disability in Namibia) this project will develop a 'Diverse Bodies Namibia' network, collaboratively created by the Universities of Namibia and Exeter, the National Federation of People with Disabilities in Namibia and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. Religio-cultural attitudes can be co-opted into disabling narratives, whether around illness, or experiences of specific disabilities (physical/sensory/mental) and those associated with gender and sexuality. For example, illness may be associated with sin or spirit-affliction and people with disabilities may encounter perceptions of deficiency, pity or as requiring cure. Gender as disability means that women are exposed to the patriarchal religious or cultural attitudes that may undergird a scourge of gender-based violence. Contestation over where religious and cultural authority lies concerning issues of sexuality has precipitated a polarised debate on the ground, lacking in nuance. The stark inequalities caused by Namibia's colonial legacy are compounded by, and intersect with, divisions of race and ethnicity. These unchecked inequalities contribute to intensified experiences of poverty, exclusion and a lack of well-being.The project will focus initially on a traditional understanding of disability. We will document lived experiences of physical and mental illness in Namibia alongside church responses and develop an educational package based on biblical and local cultural resources that tackles marginalising discourses. Given its use to address social injustices in Southern Africa, Contextual Bible Study has been chosen as an appropriate methodological approach to complement disability studies in a context where 90% of the population is Christian. The network will gradually expand to collaborators in well-established, pioneering activist-advocacy groups in Namibia - those concerned with social justice, development, and disability/gender/LGBTQI+ rights. In this forum, academic and activist-advocacy groups can engage with church representatives in a collaborative effort to explore and interrogate dominant religious and cultural narratives surrounding diverse experiences of embodiment. It will consider the extent to which missionary-colonial narratives of 'normativity' have been co-opted and are being refigured and rehearsed as inviolable, Christian and/or indigenous narratives. It will then go on to consider ways in which those same religio-cultural resources might be employed in the promotion of equality, inclusivity and diversity, in line with the UN 2030 Agenda's drive to 'leave no one behind'. The network will bring together expertise on the impoverishing effects that people with disabilities experience disproportionately: disempowerment, marginalisation, stigmatisation, inadequate access to health care and education, socio-economic struggle, and even violence. The network will exchange knowledge and collaborate further on four themes: i. collating and foregrounding impoverishing experiences of disability ii. understanding challenges and priorities from the perspective of the disabled and their advocatesiii. mapping and interrogating religious and cultural narratives of inclusion/exclusioniv. addressing religious and cultural narratives of inclusion/exclusion in order to promote inclusivity, equality and diversity and, thereby, to maximise potential for development.The network will convene participants at 3 workshops, with resources being trialled throughout the year. It draws upon substantial regional academic expertise in religion and social justice, thereby promoting 'South-South' collaboration alongside UK-LMIC collaboration. Members of the network will foster Namibian-centred approaches to the promotion of equality and diversity, avoiding the pitfalls of importing Western approaches to embodied diversities.