Moving away from clinical, medical or therapeutic perspectives on disability, this book explores disability in India as a social, cultural and political phenomenon, arguing that this `difference' should be accepted as a part of social diversity. It further interrogates the multiple issues of identification of the disabled and the forms of oppressio

The act of life is a lived experience, common and unique, that ties each of us to every other lived experience. The fact of disability does not alter this fundamental truth. In this edition of Rethinking Disability: World Perspectives in Culture and Society, we are presented with a system of thinking that considers the values of disability, as a resource, as a creative source of culture that moves disability out of the realm of victimized people and insurmountable barriers, and provides opportunities to use the experience of disability to enter into networks that recognize strengths of differing abilities. The authors within will intrigue you, will move you, will charm you, but always will challenge your notion of sameness and difference as they confront the construct and (de)construct of disability and ableism. They present compelling arguments for viewing disABILITY through the multiple lenses of disability culture. They explore themes and issues that transcend past and origins, time and place, nuances of genetics, to experiences of present and becoming, and towards the future and beyond mere human, yet always intrinsically connected to being human. This book is intended for all audiences who dare to confront difference and sameness within themselves and in connection with others; to inspire researchers who wish to explore, and examine disability across social, cultural and economic barriers. It is an invitation to push away the barriers, bring ableism inside to a place where the prosthesis is no longer the elephant in the room.

This book examines the state of art in disability studies, focusing on the Indian context, as well as the broader South Asian situation. It presents interdisciplinary perspectives on the basic idea, evolution, practices and challenges of researching and teaching disability studies at various higher education institutions and in other civil society spaces. The chapters address a range of related themes, including activism, development policies, research, pedagogy, spatial and social access, caste and gender representations and rights-based discourses. Given the scope of its coverage, the book is of interest to scholars and students in area of humanities, education, law, sociology and social work, political science development and disability studies.

With reference to India.

Since the 1970s, the international disability rights movement, the United Nations and national governments across the world have attempted to ameliorate the status of the disabled population through a range of legislative and policy measures primarily in the areas of health, education, employment, accessible environments and social security. While the discourse in the disability sector in India has shifted from charity and welfare to human rights and entitlements, disability studies — as an interdisciplinary academic terrain that focuses on the contributions, experiences, history and culture of persons with disabilities — has not yet taken root. This volume collates some of the most recent pioneering work on disability studies from across the country. The essays presented here engage with the concept of disability from a variety of disciplinary positions, sociocultural contexts and subjective experiences within the overarching framework of the Indian reality. The contributors — including some with disabilities themselves — provide a well-rounded perspective, in shifting focus from disability as a medical condition only needing clinical intervention to giving it due social and academic legitimacy. This book outlines key issues that would be germane to any disability studies endeavour in India and South Asia, and will appeal to academics, activists, institutions, laypersons and professionals involved in social welfare, sociology, disability studies, women’s studies, psychiatry, rehabilitation, and social and preventive medicine.

Exploring issues of disability culture, activism, and policy across the African continent, this volume argues for the recognition of African disability studies as an important and emerging interdisciplinary field.

This groundbreaking text makes an intervention on behalf of disability studies into the broad field of qualitative inquiry. Ronald Berger and Laura Lorenz introduce readers to a range of issues involved in doing qualitative research on disabilities by bringing together a collection of scholarly work that supplements their own contributions and covers a variety of qualitative methods: participant observation, interviewing and interview coding, focus groups, autoethnography, life history, narrative analysis, content analysis, and participatory visual methods. The chapters are framed in terms of the relevant methodological issues involved in the research, bringing in substantive findings to illustrate the fruits of the methods. In doing so, the book covers a range of physical, sensory, and cognitive impairments. This work resonates with themes in disability studies such as emancipatory research, which views research as a collaborative effort with research subjects whose lives are enhanced by the process and results of the work. It is a methodological approach that requires researchers to be on guard against exploiting informants for the purpose of professional aggrandizement and to engage in a process of ongoing self-reflection to clear themselves of personal and professional biases that may interfere with their ability to hear and empathize with others.