Configuración política de la categoría discapacidad en Colombia: Relación Estado y ciudadanía

Background. The State as an institution of power has the ability to recognize and guarantee the rights and duties of citizens. The relationship between State and citizens allows people with disabilities to legitimize their rights and become partners in the development, decision and execution of the issues that concern them. Objective. This document presents the findings of the categories State and Citizenship, derived from the study “Historical Analysis of the Political Construction of the Disability Category in Colombia”, in order to reconstruct the history of the social events that determined the political changes of disabled people between 1986 and 2012. Materials and Methods. Six categories were analyzed in 283 primary and secondary sources. The analysis was performed at three levels: the macro one (politics and guidelines worldwide); the meso one (politics, jurisprudence and legislation), and the micro one (the organized civil society). The theoretical approaches used were the Bourdieu’s concept of social field and the Foucault’s concept of biopower. On the other hand, the methodological approaches used here were based on a critical-historical and social-historical studies perspective. Results. Three historical periods that represent turning points in the sociopolitical concept of disability in Colombia are exposed. Conclusion. There is a constant tension between the State and citizens with disabilities. Public policies on disability in Colombia have favored, and they are the result of the emergence and configuration of political subjects aware of their social capitals. So his political exercise transforms the configuration of power. However, these actions do not extend in the same way to all regions of the country, thus political and civic actions on disability, given the structure of the Colombian State, differ from region to region.