Pushed to the Edge? Entrepreneurs with Disabilities and the Post-socialist Experience of Ableism

Entrepreneurs with disabilities ; Ableism ; Post-socialism ; Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

In this study, we examine the narratives of Hungarian entrepreneurs with disabilities (EWD) of the post-socialist era, using microhistory. Our research question concerns how ableism appears in the lives of EWD and how the aftermath of socialism emerges in their experience of ableism. We believe that a state-socialist past influences the lives and careers of EWD in a way that is unique in entrepreneurial and disability literature. Drawing on the accounts of 29 Hungarian entrepreneurs, we identified four mechanisms that make post-socialist ableism specific: invisibility; passivity and welfare dependency; the legitimacy of disability organisations; as well as the limitations of economic participation. Our research suggests that these effects, embedded in the current political, social, and economic environment, can only change slowly and over a long time.