The single-wheel all-terrain wheelchair: sociological analysis of a technical and social innovation promoting shared accessibility of natural spaces
Research on the outdoor activities of disabled persons is quite underdeveloped. A few recent studies nonetheless focused on accessibility, usually tackling the topic from a spatial arrangement, or cultural angle. In this paper, we propose to grasp the question as a material and social innovation, through the frame of the actor-network theory. More precisely, the article deals with a single-wheeled all-terrain wheelchair, also known as the joëlette, which gives access to unpaved paths. Through its sociotechnical characteristics, the joëlette reveals itself as a hybrid device: it is both an output, and a generator of interdependencies. In line with the sociological analysis of innovations, we describe the trajectory of the object, from its handcrafted invention to meet the needs of a teenager suffering from muscular dystrophy, to its entry into a process of innovation: the impulse of a social dynamic, its industrial diffusion, and extension of uses within a broadened network. The approach was developed over a long period of time (from 1987, when it was invented, to 2016), making it possible to grasp the laborious process of translation that transformed the object and its uses. These many evolutions enabled to solve both social and technical issues, consistently with the promotion of an inclusive approach of outdoor activities.