An African Path to Disability Justice

A BOOK LAUNCH AND CONVERSATION WITH DR OCHE ONAZI

A book launch and conversation with Dr Oche Onazi, author of the book An African Path to Disability Justice: community, relationships and obligations.

21st January 2021

What is disability justice? What are its conceptual foundations? What are its conceptual foundations in Africa?

This event brings Oche Onazi and two other noted experts on these topics to discuss Dr Onazi’s important new book, ‘An African path to disability justice: community, relationships and obligations.’

Former ISRF Early Career Fellow Dr Onazi has developed a comprehensive African legal philosophy of disability justice. He draws on ethical ideals of community, human relationships and obligations. At the same time, he develops one African relational community ideal that he considers significantly better than others, and also shows the limits of orthodox human rights or capabilities approaches.  

In demonstrating why Western frameworks should be more engaged with African concepts, Onazi conducts a philosophical re-conceptualisation of a relational African concept of community in support of stronger practices of disability justice. His book develops a “new public culture of obligations” on which disability justice could better rely.

Dr Onazi offers an overview of his book, and then responds to comments from Professor Julie Maybee (CUNY), a scholar of African philosophy, race and philosophy, and Disability Studies, and Professor Tom Shakespeare (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), author of ‘Disability – the Basics’.


Read a symposium of the event, edited by Dr Lars Cornelissen.

This is the second in the ISRF’s series of Book Launches.