Understanding the military model of disability through the rulings of Colombia’s Constitutional Court

This article analyses rulings issued by the Colombian Constitutional Court between 1995 and 2022 regarding compensation for military veterans with acquired disabilities. Arguably, the Court actively participates in normalizing and valorizing the occurrence of disability among soldiers fighting in Colombia’s internal armed conflict. We find that the Court consistently supports cause-oriented discourses around disability that provide different benefits to disabled veterans depending on whether they become disabled during enemy combat or merely in the course of active duty. This discrepancy is justified using frameworks of risk, nationalism, heroism, and respect for the military – frameworks that encourage military careers and avert criticism of the human costs of combat operations. Understanding how the Court approaches disability sheds light on a possible ‘military model’ of disability, distinct from other common models of disability used in policymaking. In the civilian sphere, contemporary governments often base policies on the ‘social model’ of disability, which de-emphasizes the causes of disabilities as a valid basis for determining levels of state support. Recognizing a separate military model allows us to identify tensions and challenges that may arise for governments that deploy both models in designing policy.