Disability, Work, and Power in Karachi: A Conflict-Theoretic Qualitative Study of Barriers, Stigma, and Coping

Abstract

People with disabilities in Karachi face persistent disadvantages in accessing decent work and stable income. This qualitative study examines how disabled people understand unequal economic opportunities and how structural barriers, stigma, and coping practices interact to shape employment prospects. Guided by a conflict-theoretical perspective, the study treats exclusion as a product of power and resource control embedded in hiring practices, workplace design, and the uneven enforcement of inclusion commitments. Data was generated through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 10 people with disabilities in Karachi and analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings show that opportunities are experienced as limited and conditional, often confined to narrow job channels and undermined by inaccessible transport and built environments that restrict mobility and participation. Participants also report that stigma and prejudice operate as gatekeeping forces, shaping how employers and society evaluate capability and worth, leading to rejection, humiliation, and reduced confidence. Coping strategies include persistence, skill-building, selective reliance on family networks, and support from civil society actors, yet many participants describe weak or absent formal support systems. The study concludes that disability-based economic inequality in Karachi is sustained by the interaction of inaccessible environments, discretionary employer practices, and limited institutional accountability, which collectively shift the costs of inclusion onto disabled individuals and their families. Policy implications include enforceable accessibility standards, accountable recruitment and accommodation practices, and coordinated support ecosystems that reduce reliance on private coping for public rights.