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Ambassadors of Social Progress: A History of International Blind Activism in the Cold War - Hardcover | Diverse Reads

Ambassadors of Social Progress: A History of International Blind Activism in the Cold War

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Ambassadors of Social Progress examines the ways in which blind activists from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe entered the postwar international disability movement and shaped its content and its course. Maria Cristina Galmarini shows that the international work of socialist blind activists was defined by the larger politics of the Cold War and, in many respects, represented a field of competition with the West in which the East could shine. Yet, her study also reveals that socialist blind politics went beyond propaganda. When socialist activists joined the international blind movement, they initiated an exchange of experiences that profoundly impacted everyone involved. Not only did the international blind movement turn global disability welfare from philanthropy to self-advocacy, but it also gave East European and Soviet activists a new set of ideas and technologies to improve their own national movements.

By analyzing the intersection of disability and politics, Ambassadors of Social Progress enables a deeper, bottom-up understanding of cultural relations during the Cold War. Galmarini significantly contributes to the little-studied history of disability in socialist Europe, and ultimately shows that disability activism did not start as an import from the West in the post-1989 period, but rather had a long and meaningful tradition that was rooted in the socialist system of welfare and needed to be reinvented when this system fell apart.

ISBN-13: 9781501773778

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press

Publication Date: 02-15-2024

Pages: 302

Series: NIU Series in Slavic - East European - and Eurasian Studies

Maria Cristina Galmarini is Associate Professor of History at William & Mary. She is the author of The Right to Be Helped, and she is the winner of the 2018 Disability History Association's Award for Best Published Article.

What People are Saying About This

Frances Bernstein

This is a fascinating study. Galmarini's command of the literature is impressive. The book problematizes and expands upon the understanding of activism, arguing successfully that socialist activism is not an oxymoron and that it made a difference to the development of international blind politics.

Monika Baar

This a significant, pioneering contribution. Galmarini breaks new ground by focusing on the internationalist aspect of disability activism, expanding the definition of 'activism.' She sheds new light on questions that have been at the core of Cold War Studies, such as cooperation versus competition between different ideological regimes.