Meaningful employment: a study of meaningful employment for people with intellectual disabilities in social enterprises.

The opportunity to work is essential to living a good life, and according to the disability convention, it is to be considered a right for citizens with disabilities (CRPD, 2009). In recent years, there has been a focus on employment in social enterprises for citizens with intellectual disabilities (Espersen, Andersen, Petersen, & Olsen, 2018). Martha Nussbaum also sees employment as an integral part of the capability that must be available to all citizens. Nussbaum points out that the development of capabilities takes place in interaction with societal conditions (Nussbaum 2011). It is precisely the capabilities and the
opportunity for developing capabilities that is the subject of the research project.
With Nussbaum's capability approach as a starting point, we will present the project's findings with a focus on which opportunities and barriers are present for meaningful employment for citizens with developmental disabilities in social economic companies.
The research question is as follows:
Which prerequisites are created for combined capabilities for citizens with disabilities in social enterprises?

In the project, we have a particular ambition to understand the mindset of individuals with developmental disabilities and regard them as experts in their own lives and to listen to and understand their perspectives. In the three different social enterprises that have been part of the project, we have therefore used methodological and analytical approaches that could accommodate this.

The poster presentation will show the findings based on a qualitative study with 7 participant observations and 7 photo-elicited interviews with citizens with developmental disabilities, and 9 interviews with educational staff and representatives of the local community in which the businesses are located.

Keywords: disability, meaningful employment, social enterprise