Handbook of disability studies / edited by Gary L. Albrecht, Katherine D. Seelman, and Michael Bury.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This path-breaking international handbook of disability studies signals the emergence of a vital new area of scholarship, social policy and activism. Drawing on the insights of disability scholars around the world and the creative advice of an international editorial board, the book engages the reader in the critical issues and debates framing disability studies and places them in an historical and cultural context. Five years in the making, this one volume summarizes the ongoing discourse ranging across continents and traditional academic disciplines. To provide insight and perspective, the volume is divided into three sections: The shaping of disability studies as a field; experiencing disability; and, disability in context. Each section, written by world class figures, consists of original chapters designed to map the field and explore the key conceptual, theoretical, methodological, practice and policy issues that constitute the field. Each chapter provides a critical review of an area, positions and literature and an agenda for future research and practice. The handbook answers the need expressed by the disability community for a thought provoking, interdisciplinary, international examination of the vibrant field of disability studies. The book will be of interest to disabled people, scholars, policy makers and activists alike. The book aims to define the existing field, stimulate future debate, encourage respectful discourse between different interest groups and move the field a step forward.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction: The Formation of Disability Studies
• Part 1 The Shaping Of Disabilities Studies As A Field
• An Institutional History of Disability
• Counting Disability
• Disability Definitions, Models, Classification Schemes and Applications
• Theorizing Disability
• Methodological Paradigms That Shape Disability Research
• Disability
• An Interactive Person-Environment Social Creation
• Representation and Its Discontents
• The Uneasy Home of Disability in Literature and Film
• Philosophical Issues in the Definition and Social Response to Disability
• Disability and the Sociology of the Body
• Intellectual Disabilities- Quo Vadis?
• Disability, Bioethics and Human Rights
• Disability Studies and Electronic Networking
• Part 2 Experiencing Disability
• Divided Understandings
• The Social Experience of Disability
• Mapping the Family
• Disability Studies and the Exploration of Parental Response to Disability
• Disability and Community
• A Sociological Approach
• Welfare States and Disabled People
• Advocacy and Political Action
• Health Care Professionals and Their Attitudes Towards, and Decisions Affecting Disabled People
• The Role of Social Networks in the Lives of Persons with Disabilities
• Inclusion/Exclusion
• An Analysis of Historical and Cultural Meanings
• Part 3 Disability In Context
• Disability Culture
• Assimilation or Inclusion?
• Identity Politics, Disability and Culture
• Making the Difference
• Disability, Politics, and Recognition
• Disability Human Rights, Law and Policy
• The Political Economy of the Disability Marketplace
• Disability and Health Policy
• The Role of Markets in the Delivery of Health Services
• Disability Benefit Programs
• Can We Improve the Return to Work Record?
• A Disability Studies Perspective on Employment Issues and Policies for Disabled People
• An International View
• Science and Technology Policy
• Is Disability a Missing Factor?
• Disability, Education and Inclusion
• Cross-Cultural Issues and Dilemmas
• Support Systems
• The Interface Between Individuals and Environments
• The Relationship between Disabled People and Health and Welfare Professionals
• Public Health Trends in Disability
• Past, Present, and Future
• Disability in the Developing World