Associate Professor in FIST, Xuan Thuy Nguyen, has completed her collaborative research project : Transforming Disability Knowledge, Research, and Activism (TDKRA). Thuy is the Principal Investigator of this SSHRC funded project, co-investigators include: Marnina Gonick, Claudia Mitchell, and Deborah Stienstra.

Today, on the International Day of the Girl Child, the Transforming Disability Knowledge, Research and Activism (TDKRA) project and the Decolonial Disability Studies Collective (DDSC) at Carleton University release our final research report.

This 4-year project aimed to address the gap in knowledge about the situation of women and girls with disabilities in three disadvantaged communities in Vietnam and to build potential for their activism. It also aimed to connect research and activism to build a more transformative approach to inclusion and social justice in the global South.

The TDKRA project was implemented in 5 phases. In each phase, emphasis was given to strengthening partnership with local DPOs and community, building local leadership, training, and enhancing women’s skills to be co-facilitators in various participatory visual methods. The outcomes of this project show potential for women and girls with disabilities to engage in local and transnational activisms. We have further pushed against traditional research methods and sought to implement decolonial methodologies by way of epistemological engagement with Global South representations. To this end we have centered the experience of women and girls in the Global South and worked with them to produce their desired outcomes while also respecting their agency and supporting their feelings of empowerment throughout the research process.

Please kindly download the report at: https://carleton.ca/tkaa/2022/tdkra-project-released-final-report/