Abstrakt
Many citizens of Prague identified as disabled still live in isolated residential institutions (in and outside the city) and there are still many others at risk of becoming inmates of the disability Gulag. Recently, for the first time, the City Council declared responsibility for the inhabitants that "that have been expelled" out of the urban life-as-usual.
As the inclusive policies proposed by the ruling political coalition start to be translated into the concrete municipal strategies that concern everyday life of the city's dwellers, doubts that could be easily understood as unwillingness, ignorance or even hostility emerge. On the other hand, clearly articulated policies and guidelines for inclusion often get into serious trouble as soon as they start to be tested in practice.
We believe that one of the reasons for these mismatches is the fact that the values and aims framing the social services reform are isolated from other relevant frameworks and logics. By studying seemingly marginal and as yet neglected aspects of residential care - namely the tensions between care for residents, maintenance of their residences and upkeeping and development of the communities to which the people and the buildings belong - we want to explore a mode of thinking useful both for policy-makers and academics, namely looking at objects/subjects in ecological relationships.
Using the tools of the STS inspired ethnographic research and empirical ethics, we want to find out how the "meaningful future for all" is produced and what spaces it inhabits.