5 - Identity Politics as the Continuation of War by Other Means

Summary

The identity as a person with disabilities is a prerequisite for claiming disability rights. In Nicaragua, however, the disability identity is particularly nuanced for persons wounded in the Sandinista Revolution or the subsequent civil war. The members of the Organization of Disabled Revolutionaries (ORD) are all ex-Sandinista soldiers who are proud of their service. For them, their disability symbolizes their sacrifice as protectors of the community in the name of solidaridad. They adamantly identify as “war wounded” rather than as “persons with disabilities.” As a result, they increasingly see the disability-rights movement as a threat to their war-hero status. The members of the Nicaraguan Association of the Disabled Resistance (ADRN), however, see disability rights and the disability identity as an important opportunity. As wounded ex-combatants who fought, and lost, on the opposing side of the civil war, they are stigmatized within Segovia for having fought as Contras. Their disabilities acquired from war remind community members of their past as “traitors,” and thus not deserving of rights. But, by using disability rights as a new identity frame, the ADRN is able to gain access to opportunities that in the past had been denied.