ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 reflects critically on the construction of IF as a mobile model or template for reform. Drawing on ‘insider’ accounts of some of the key actors involved in this process, I show how IF was born of a power struggle between different elements within the disability rights movement, and a subsequent shift in the influence that favoured its more moderate, reformist currents. The dislodgment of disability activists and collectives by NGOs and transnational advocacy networks (TANs), namely a nascent TAN called In Control, is shown to have a depoliticising and conservatising effect on disability policy advocacy. It is argued that the influence of groups like In Control stemmed from their relatively professionalised approach to advocacy and lobbying, the relationships they forged with key Labour Ministers, and their inclination to exploit the political opportunities afforded by the New Labour administration. This translated into a politically softer form of advocacy that appealed to, and helped legitimise, the ideals of Third Way neoliberalism.
