(In)Accessible Urban Environment: The Evidence from the Russian YouTube Users Reactions towards the Mobility Conditions for People with Disabilities

Abstract

This research examines the mobility conditions for people with disabilities in the urban environment as a social problem. We leverage the constructionist approach towards social problems which views them as actions by individuals and groups insisting that a condition is a problem and demanding solutions to fix it. The research focuses on reactions of Russian YouTube users to problems of the urban environment accessibility for people with disabilities through their comments under the episodes of the YouTube show “On the Wheels”. We performed a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the 7 472 comments. The vast majority identifies urban environment accessibility as a social problem and expresses strong emotional reactions towards people with disabilities’ mobility conditions in the city. Dominant rhetorical strategies used in the comments to substantiate the problematics of the condition are the rhetoric of calamity, endangerment, and entitlement as per the methodology developed by P. Ibarra and J. Kitsuse. Within the rhetoric of entitlement, users stress the importance of giving the right of unrestricted mobility to everyone, including people with disabilities. The rhetoric of calamity draws a connection between the accessibility problems and the quality of public administration in Russia. The rhetoric of endangerment views physical barriers to mobility as a threat to people’s health and security. Furthermore, commentators conclude that an accessible environment will benefit everyone. There are not many counter rhetorical strategies found in the studied comments, and most of such comments admit the problem of an accessible environment.

Acknowledgements. The article was written based on the RANEPA state assignment research programme.