This is essential reading for anyone who wished to understand the true nature of disability, especially as disability comes to occupy a more prominent place on the political agenda.

An exploration of the relationship between madness, distress and disability, bringing together leading scholars and activists from Europe, North America, Australia and India.

Disability luminary Mike Oliver is joined by Colin Barnes in this agenda-setting response to a capitalist society faced with globalisation, financial instability and lower public expenditure. A timely new edition which reignites the debate on the nature of disability and reasserts the political power of the academic field of disability studies.

*Explores the larger significance of disability in cultural, political, and religious venues * Novel aspects of Christian theological tradition emerge in this light * Highly original and thought-provoking

This powerful book presents a series of perspectives on the process of self-organisation of disabled people which has taken place over the last thirty years. The 1980s saw a transformation in our understanding of the nature of disability, and consequently the kinds of policies and services necessary to ensure the full economic and social integration of disabled people. At the heart of this transformation has been the rise in the number of organisations controlled and run by disabled people themselves. Through a series of interviews with disabled people who have been centrally involved in the rise of the disability movement, the authors present a new collective history which throws light on the politics of the 1980s, and offers insights into future political developments in the 1990s and on into the twenty-first century.

Disabling Barriers analyzes issues relating to disability at different moments in Canadian and American history. In this volume, legal scholars, historians, and disability-rights activists demonstrate that disabled people can change their social status by transforming the political and legal discourse surrounding disablement. Employing tools from the fields of law and history, this original contribution explores how disabled people have been portrayed and treated in a variety of contexts, including within the labour market, the workers’ compensation system, the immigration process, and the legal system (both as litigants and as lawyers). It deepens our knowledge of the role of people with disabilities within social movements in disability history. The contributors encourage us to rethink our understanding of both the systemic barriers disabled people face and the capacity of disabled people to effect positive societal change.

This text ventures into the area where law and disability intersect. Drawing on developments in the emerging field of disability studies and on a new-found human rights perspective on disability, the contributions traverse topics as wide-ranging as citizenship, feminism, eugenics, euthanasia, and sexual abuse of people with disabilities, and analyze disability law at both a domestic and international level. Informed by the social model of disability, this work brings together academics and disability activists from Australia, Europe and North America. The book is interdisciplinary in nature, with contributors coming from sociology, education, law, geography, philosophy, and cultural studies.

A development of some of the main themes and issues surrounding disability that have arisen since the mid-1970s. By relating these developments to the author's own biography throughout this time, this text challenges the personal and social perceptions of disability.

A groundbreaking volume from leading scholars exploring disability studies using a political theory approach.

While the visibility of disability studies has increased in recent years, few have thoroughly examined the marginalization of people with disabilities through the lens of political economy. This was the great contribution of Marta Russell (1951-2013), an activist and prominent scholar in the United States and best known for her analyses of the issues faced by people with disabilities. This book examines the legacy of Marta Russell, bringing together distinguished scholars and activists such as Anne Finger, Nirmala Erevelles and Mark Weber, to explicate current issues relevant to the empowerment of people with disabilities. Drawing from various fields including Law, Political Economy, Education and History, the book takes a truly interdisciplinary approach, offering a body of work that develops a dextrous understanding of the marginalization of people with disabilities. The book will be of great use and interest to specialists and students in the fields of Political Economy, Law and Society, Labour Studies, Disability Studies, Women’s Studies, and Political Science.