(Co)-mobilities of people with disabilities in the rurality of Southern Chile. Visibilizing networks and interdependencies from an ethnographic approach

Abstract

This article describes and analyze how people with disabilities experience their mobility in a rural territory in southern Chile. Through an ethnographic design, interviews and observations were applied to the people, their families and caregivers. The results suggest that direct families, in addition to local public institutions, are the ones who make the mobility and life projects of their members with disabilities possible. In addition, the territory, understood as a living space, is highly valued by people, who appreciate local anchorages and roots. Finally, mobilities as an approach allow us new readings of disability, where interdependencies, negotiations and weaves of various networks are introduced, as categories and approved ways of managing daily life.