Lars Wissenbach: Disability and Social Protection in Ghana (ZPE No. 62, 2026, Dissertation)

Lars Wissenbach examines public social protection programs in Ghana and their implications for the livelihoods of people with disabilities. Drawing on qualitative interviews with program users, disability advocates, and social welfare practitioners, the study explores the explicit and implicit assumptions about beneficiaries’ individual resource arrangements that shape program design and implementation practices. It analyzes the demands these assumptions place on recipients and assesses the extent to which they align with beneficiaries’ lived realities and perspectives. 

The book offers valuable insights into contemporary debates on disability and the development of social protection systems in Ghana and other countries of the so-called Global South. By integrating historical perspectives and contemporary philosophical debates on African conceptions of community, personhood, reciprocity, and social justice with resource theories and empirical evidence, the author develops a nuanced framework for understanding the relationship between public and indigenous social protection. Based on the experiences and perspectives of users with disabilities, the study offers new insights into the complementarity of state and indigenous social protection structures and their significance for inclusive development.