4. Aktion T4 memorial at 4 Tiedrgartenstraße, Berlin. Drrcs15, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
posters, and diaries. These sources document campaigns for more accessible environments, education, and employment during a period when wheelchair users could scarcely leave their homes and were not only physically segregated from mainstream society but also marginalised by prejudice. Activists questioned this status quo and developed a new understanding of disability.
According to this new perspective, disability is not a medical defect or an individual problem to be fixed; rather, it is a condition caused by flaws in the way society is organised. For example, when a wheelchair user cannot enter a building with only stairs and no lift, the problem does not lie in the individual’ s impairment but in the lack of access. The solution is therefore to change social structures by making the built environment accessible. This approach, known as the social model of disability, focuses not on“ fixing” the individual but on transforming society— its mentality and organisation.
Frustration, segregation, and humiliation drove disabled activists and their allies onto the streets. In
Spain, for example, 1976 witnessed demonstrations in Madrid and Barcelona, including street protests and sit-ins held in administrative and religious buildings. In the wake of Franco’ s death, activists seized the moment to demand justice and full participation in the country’ s emerging democracy. Although the authorities initially resisted, the protesters embodied what Václav Havel later described as“ the power of the powerless.” Their efforts ultimately contributed to the inclusion in the 1978 Constitution of an article obliging public authorities to provide specialised support for people with disabilities and to guarantee them the same rights as all other citizens. This rich heritage of activism in the 1970s culminated in a landmark event in 1981— the International Year of Disabled Persons, organised by the United Nations. It marked the first time disability was placed on the global stage. Celebrations characterised the year, but also vigorous protests in several countries. The official rhetoric surrounding the event raised expectations that could not be met in a period coinciding with the first major financial crisis of the post-war era. The
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Observing Memories ISSUE 9