This is an exciting new introductory textbook for anyone studying disability. As well as providing an excellent overview of the existing literature in the area, the book also develops an understanding of disability that has implications for both sociology and society.Over the last three decades our understanding of disability has changed dramatically. Once perceived as a largely medical problem affecting only a small number of people, it is now regarded as a major social and political issue. Exploring Disability charts both the traditional and contemporary approaches to the area before focusing on the social model of disability. In a series of chapters, the authors then go on to look at the relationship between disabled people and areas such as medical sociology, disability studies, social policy, politics and culture. The book ends with an exploration of the future of theory and research on disability.Exploring Disability will be indispensable for students seeking to understand disability within sociology, disability studies, social policy, politics, cultural studies, and health-related disciplines including medicine.
′If students and teachers want one resource to assist in their exploration of disability studies, then this is it. It′s up to date, comprehensive and coherent, outlining the key themes and issues in a readable way. No one studying disability on an undergraduate, postgraduate or professional training course should be without it.′
Mike Oliver, Emeritus Professor, University of Greenwich
′Exploring Disability is an important, up–to–date, critical and wide–ranging review of key issues that situates the debates and discussion within the growing literature on disability. It should be on the reading lists of many disability studies courses, providing as it does the broad overview of where both the discipline and the movement are today. It is a must for academics, policy–makers, researchers and the disability movement.′
Marcia Rioux, York Institute for Health Research, Toronto
The second edition of this widely used text has been carefully rewritten to ensure that it is up to date with cutting–edge debates, evidence and policy changes. Since the book′s initial publication there has been an expansion of interest in disability in the social sciences, and disability has come to play an increasingly prominent role in political debates. The new edition takes account of all these developments and also gives greater emphasis to global issues in order to reflect the increasing and intensifying interdependence of nation–states in the twenty–first century.
The authors examine, among other issues, the changing nature of the concept of disability, key debates in the sociology of health and illness, the politicization of disability, social policy, and the cultural and media representation of disability. As well as providing an excellent overview of the literature in the area, the book develops an understanding of disability that has implications for both sociology and society.
The second edition of Exploring Disability will be indispensable for students across the social sciences, and in health and social care, who really want to understand the issues facing disabled people and disabling societies.
