On the Fringe: China's disability Laws through the Lens of the Traditional Culture

Authors

Brandon Christensen

Keywords

BYU Asian Studies, China, disability laws

Abstract

Explosive economic growth over the last two decades has dramatically increased China’s standard of living and given rise to a rapidly growing middle class. Political reform, however, has been slow to follow with decades-old legal restrictions on civil liberties still firmly in place. Among China’s underdeveloped civil protections is the right for people with disabilities to enjoy freedom from popular and institutional prejudice in language or action, especially when seeking employment. Recent revisions of China’s disability laws provide increased employment protections, but latent prejudicial language and traditional stereotypes in the law suggest these revisions may not reach the core objective of full integration for people with disabilities (Rosenthal). Investigating these traditional perspectives allows for a more holistic understanding of China’s disability laws and provides insight into public and institutional perceptions of people with disabilities in China.

Recommended Citation

Christensen, Brandon (2014) "On the Fringe: China's disability Laws through the Lens of the Traditional Culture," BYU Asian Studies Journal: Vol. 4, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/asj/vol4/iss1/3