Resources and Constraints in Overcoming Vulnerability. The Case of People Confronted to Disability in a Context of Active Welfare Policies

The aim of my PhD is to question the normativity of the Swiss Disability Insurance (DI) and assess its capacity to protect disabled people against social and economic difficulties or inequalities. Here, disability is conceived as a critical event or a turning point that destabilises individual trajectories and increases the risk of vulnerability. In order to understand to what extent DI is effective in protecting vulnerable people and helping them live a valued life, my analytical framework combines the life course paradigm and the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen. By doing so, my objective is to assess the modes of intervention promoted by DI (rehabilitation, active measures, pensions, etc.), regarding recipients’ needs, aspirations and their position over the life course.