Disability Rights in East Asian Democracies

This conference highlights cutting-edge research in the growing legal and social scientific scholarship on disabilities in East Asia’s democracies. We will discuss a range of topics, including (but not limited to) the development of laws related to persons with disabilities; disparities across disability categories; the role of regulations and technology in the employment of people with disabilities; the enfranchisement of persons with intellectual disabilities; the gendered division of labor for care; and the intersection of globalized concepts of rights with local disability politics.

Speakers
Lee Sooyeon, Lawyer, NOW
“Discrimination Lawsuits and Treaty Body Activities to Promote the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities in Korea”

Maeda Mayuko, PhD Candidate, George Washington University
“Achieving Suffrage for People under Guardianship in Japan: The Role of Tōjisha Centered Activism and International Norms”

Chang Heng-hao, Professor of Sociology, National Taipei University
“Localizing Disability Rights: Taiwan’s Struggle Between Family, Community, and the UNCRPD”

Nishida Reiko, Law scholar, Waseda, GWU Sigur Center Visiting Scholar
“The Structure and Challenges of Japan’s Disability Employment Quota System”

Kawashima Satoshi, Law, Open University in Japan, former secretary-general of the Japan Disability Law Association
“Some of the Challenges in Legal Advocacy for Disability Rights in Japan”

Celeste Arrington, Director of the GW Institute for Korean Studies, Co-Director of the East Asia National Resources Center, Korea Foundation Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
“Making Rights Real: Information Subsidies from Disabled Persons’ Organizations in Korea and Japan”