[W Forum] The Meaning of Civilization and Being Human

Recently, discussions about the mobility rights of people with disabilities have become frequent. This is all thanks to the subway protests by the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (Jeonjangyeon). I deliberately use the word ‘thanks’ here.

Before Jeonjangyeon’s protests, non-disabled people probably did not think so seriously about the ‘mobility rights of people with disabilities.’ Even when accidents occurred where someone fell and died while moving in a wheelchair, they likely dismissed it as an unfortunate accident and moved on.

However, the party leader who is soon to become the ruling party called these protests ‘uncivilized,’ saying they hold citizens ‘hostage’ because they disrupt the majority’s movement. Hearing that, I ponder deeply: what is civilization, and what is uncivilized?

Officials from the National Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination held a boarding protest on March 24 at Gyeongbokgung Station on Seoul Subway Line 3, demanding the guarantee of mobility rights for people with disabilities. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

What is civilization? The Latin root of the English word ‘civilization,’ ‘civilis,’ literally means ‘citizen-like.’ What does it mean to live like a citizen? Looking into the etymology of ‘civilization,’ we find that the words citizen (civis) and city (civitas) overlap in meaning.

In other words, civilization is living as a political subject within an urban community. Telling those with physical difficulties not to go out is telling them to give up a citizen-like life, so a society that does not guarantee mobility rights to people with disabilities is uncivilized. Appealing for mobility rights and even taking the subway to express that urgency is not uncivilized behavior.

For many years, our society has pushed people with disabilities into invisible spaces. Even if there was a person with a disability in the family, it was not openly acknowledged. We are very stingy about bringing transportation-vulnerable people into public spaces.

The nationwide supply rate of low-floor buses is less than 30%. Although Seoul has a relatively high installation rate of subway elevators, it is still not easy for people with disabilities to move around in wheelchairs on the streets or in public buildings. In that regard, Korea, which has not yet led people with disabilities into citizen-like living spaces, is not yet a civilized country.

If you are angry about your daily routine being delayed by an hour due to protests, first think about the isolation of people with disabilities who had to live confined for 30 years. The hostages are not the citizens but the people with disabilities who have endured without guaranteed mobility rights, pushed aside for the convenience of the majority.

If you are in a responsible position, instead of questioning the uncivilized nature of the protests, you should examine why the Act on the Promotion of Convenience for Transportation Vulnerable Persons is not properly implemented, why its budget is cut, and why they had to come out to the streets so sorrowfully. It is not the people with disabilities who should apologize to the non-disabled; rather, the non-disabled who enjoyed freedom without first considering the vulnerable should apologize to the people with disabilities.

There is one more thing I want to point out. Mobility rights are not just the freedom to go out for leisure but are closely connected to the basic human rights of working and forming relationships. Since 90% of disabilities are due to acquired diseases or accidents, in fact, anyone can become disabled. The fact that our society has been insensitive to the mobility rights of people with disabilities for many years means that they have been deprived of the freedom to work and form relationships as citizens.

Those who have experienced isolation during the pandemic (a global outbreak) vividly understand that physical isolation makes it difficult to form relationships and live as members of society. People with disabilities live with that isolation, inconvenience, and anxiety as their basic life conditions.

I hope that people with disabilities can move freely anywhere and have their human rights to form relationships and work guaranteed. This is the most urgent condition of life, above all else?this is civilization. A few days ago in Seoul, another person died while moving in a wheelchair.

Jeong Eun-gwi, Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies