Examining the UK Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in comparison to its counterparts in the USA and Australia, this book focuses on how it is being interpreted and acted upon in the context of higher education, a key area of national attention in the UK. It also evaluates this law in the context of the larger project of civil rights legislation and demonstrates that geography can be used to explain law and legal arguments by highlighting their subjectivity and by emphasizing the importance of place, specificity and context. While providing in-depth analysis of the effectiveness and scope of this significant legislation this book demonstrates the importance of geography in the application of law. It provides insights into the broader workings of UK anti-discrimination law, which are particularly relevant given the scrutiny of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the concerns about the effectiveness of legal tools in fighting discrimination. Finally, this book critiques liberal notions of legal subjectivity and medical definitions of disability which is topical given the current attention given to debates about identity politics.
Geographies of disability have become a key research priority for many disability scholars and geographers. This edited collection, incorporating the work of leading international disability researchers, seeks to expand the current geographical frame operating within the realm of disability. Providing a critical and comprehensive examination of disability and spatial processes of exclusion and inclusion for disabled people, the book uniquely brings together insights from disability studies, spatial geographies and social policy with the purpose of exploring how spatial factors shape, limit or enhance policy towards, and the experiences of, disabled people. Divided into two parts, the first section explores the key concepts to have emerged within the field of disability geographies, and their relationship to new policy regimes. New and emerging concepts within the field are critically explored for their significance in conceptually framing disability. The second section provides an in-depth examination of disabled people’s experience of changing landscapes within the onset of emerging disability policy regimes. It deals with how the various actors and stakeholders, such as governments, social care agencies, families and disabled people traverse these landscapes under the new conditions laid out by changing policy regimes. Crucially, the chapters examine the lived meaning of changing spatial relations for disabled people. Grounded in recent empirical research, and with a global focus, each of the chapters reveal how social policy domains are challenged or undermined by the spatial realities faced by disabled people, and expands existing understandings of disability. In turn, the book supports readers to grasp future policy directions and processes that enable disabled people's choices, rights and participation. This important work will be invaluable reading for students and researchers involved in disability, geography and social policy.
This handbook provides a comprehensive analysis of contemporary gender and feminist geographies in an international and multi-disciplinary context. It features 48 new contributions from both experienced and emerging scholars, artists and activists who critically review and appraise current spatial politics. Each chapter advances the future development of feminist geography and gender studies, as well as empirical evidence of changing relationships between gender, power, place and space. Following an introduction by the Editors, the handbook presents original work organized into four parts which engage with relevant issues including violence, resistance, agency and desire: Establishing feminist geographies Placing feminist geographies Engaging feminist geographies Doing feminist geographies The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Feminist Geographies will be an essential reference work for scholars interested in feminist geography, gender studies and geographical thought.
The first comprehensive volume to integrate social-scientific literature on the origins and manifestations of prejudice against disabled people Ableism, prejudice against disabled people stereotyped as incompetent and dependent, can elicit a range of reactions that include fear, contempt, pity, and inspiration. Current literature—often narrowly focused on a specific aspect of the subject or limited in scope to psychoanalytic tradition—fails to examine the many origins and manifestations of ableism. Filling a significant gap in the field, Ableism: The Causes and Consequences of Disability Prejudice is the first work to synthesize classic and contemporary studies on the evolutionary, ideological, and cognitive-emotional sources of ableism. This comprehensive volume examines new manifestations of ableism, summarizes the state of research on disability prejudice, and explores real-world personal accounts and interventions to illustrate the various forms and impacts of ableism. This important contribution to the field combines evidence from multiple theoretical perspectives, including published and unpublished work from both disabled and nondisabled constituents, on the causes, consequences, and elimination of disability prejudice. Each chapter places findings in the context of contemporary theories—identifying methodological limits and suggesting alternative interpretations. Topics include the evolutionary and existential origins of disability prejudice, cultural and impairment-specific stereotypes, interventions to reduce prejudice, and how to effect social change through collective action and advocacy. Adopting a holistic approach to the study of disability prejudice, this accessibly-written volume: Provides an inclusive, up-to-date exploration of the origins and expressions of ableism Addresses how to resist ableist practices, prioritize accessible policies, and create more equitable social relations with pages earmarked for activists and allies Focuses on interpersonal and intergroup analysis from a social-psychological perspective Integrates research from multiple disciplines to illustrate critical cognitive, affective and behavioral mechanisms and manifestations of ableism Suggests future research directions based on topics covered in each chapter Ableism: The Causes and Consequences of Disability Prejudice is an important resource for social, community and rehabilitation psychologists, scholars and researchers of disability studies, and students, activists, and academics across political, sociological, and humanistic disciplines. “This book is an excellent resource for both members of the academic field and lay readers seeking to know more about disability prejudice and ways to address it.” ~ Charlotte Schreyer, Syracuse University, Published on H-Disability (September 2022)
(a) Design and construction. (1) Each facility or part of a facility constructed by, on behalf of, or for the use of a public entity shall be designed and constructed in such manner that the facility or part of the facility is readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, if the construction was commenced after January 26, 1992. (2) Exception for structural impracticability. (i) Full compliance with the requirements of this section is not required where a public entity can demonstrate that it is structurally impracticable to meet the requirements. Full compliance will be considered structurally impracticable only in those rare circumstances when the unique characteristics of terrain prevent the incorporation of accessibility features. (ii) If full compliance with this section would be structurally impracticable, compliance with this section is required to the extent that it is not structurally impracticable. In that case, any portion of the facility that can be made accessible shall be made accessible to the extent that it is not structurally impracticable. (iii) If providing accessibility in conformance with this section to individuals with certain disabilities (e.g., those who use wheelchairs) would be structurally impracticable, accessibility shall nonetheless be ensured to persons with other types of disabilities, (e.g., those who use crutches or who have sight, hearing, or mental impairments) in accordance with this section.
This book explores the societal resistance to accessibility for persons with disabilities, and tries to set an example of how to study exclusion in a time when numerous policies promise inclusion. With 12 chapters organised in three parts, the book takes a comprehensive approach to accessibility, covering transport and communication, knowledge and education, law and organisation. Topics within a wide cross-disciplinary field are covered, including disability studies, social work, sociology, ethnology, social anthropology, and history. The main example is Sweden, with its implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities within the context of the Nordic welfare state. By identifying and discussing persistent social and cultural conditions as well as recurring situations and interactions that nurture resistance to advancing accessibility, despite various strong laws promoting it, the book’s conclusions are widely transferable. It argues for the value of alternating between methods, theoretical perspectives, and datasets to explore how new arenas, resources and technologies cause new accessibility concerns — and possibilities — for persons living with impairments. We need to be able to follow actors closely to uncover how they feel, act, and argue, but also to connect to wider discursive and institutional patterns and systems. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of disability studies, social work, sociology, ethnology, social anthropology, political science, and organisation studies.
While equality laws operate to enable access to information, these laws have limited power over the overriding impact of market forces and copyright laws that focus on restricting access to information. Technology now creates opportunities for everyone in the world, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, to be able to access the written word – yet the print disabled are denied reading equality, and have their access to information limited by laws protecting the mainstream use and consumption of information. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the World Intellectual Property Organization's Marrakesh Treaty have swept in a new legal paradigm. This book contributes to disability rights scholarship, and builds on ideas of digital equality and rights to access in its analysis of domestic disability anti-discrimination, civil rights, human rights, constitutional rights, copyright and other equality measures that promote and hinder reading equality.
This is the only text to examine the experience of disability in relation to theories of human growth and development. It provides a foundational and comprehensive examination of disability that encompasses the intellectual, psychiatric, physical, and social arenas. The second edition is updated to underscore its versatility as an introductory text about the developmental tasks of people with disabilities for all the helping professions. Reorganized to illuminate the book’s interdisciplinary focus, it includes new demographics, new case studies and first-person accounts, discussions on cultural aspects of disabilities, family concerns, and more. The text delivers practice guidelines for each of the conventional life stages and describes the developmental tasks of individuals with disabilities (IWDs). It emphasizes the positive trend in the perception of IWDs as normal and underscores the fact that IWDs have the same motivations, emotions, and goals as those without disabilities. Learning activities, suggestions for writing exercises, and websites for further study reinforce learning, as do graphs and charts illustrating trends and demographics. NEW TO THE SECOND EDITION: Introductory chapter on understanding disability Demographic updates throughout New case studies and first-person accounts Expanded discussions about cultural considerations, intersectionality, and family considerations Updated Instructor’s Manual and an Instructor’s Test Bank KEY FEATURES: Examines the conventional stages of human growth and development from the perspective of individuals with disabilities Integrates disability concepts with developmental theories and stages of the lifespan Addresses common ethical issues to illuminate the real-world implications faced by individuals with disabilities and their families Includes learning activities, suggestions for writing exercises, and websites for further study Purchase includes digital access for use on most mobile devices or computers.
In Cultural Locations of Disability, Sharon L. Snyder and David T. Mitchell trace how disabled people came to be viewed as biologically deviant. The eugenics era pioneered techniques that managed "defectives" through the application of therapies, invasive case histories, and acute surveillance techniques, turning disabled persons into subjects for a readily available research pool. In its pursuit of normalization, eugenics implemented disability regulations that included charity systems, marriage laws, sterilization, institutionalization, and even extermination. Enacted in enclosed disability locations, these practices ultimately resulted in expectations of segregation from the mainstream, leaving today's disability politics to focus on reintegration, visibility, inclusion, and the right of meaningful public participation. Snyder and Mitchell reveal cracks in the social production of human variation as aberrancy. From our modern obsessions with tidiness and cleanliness to our desire to attain perfect bodies, notions of disabilities as examples of human insufficiency proliferate. These disability practices infuse more general modes of social obedience at work today. Consequently, this important study explains how disabled people are instrumental to charting the passage from a disciplinary society to one based upon regulation of the self.
It is no secret that since the 1980s, American workers have lost power vis-à-vis employers through the well-chronicled steep decline in private sector unionization. American workers have also lost power in other ways. Those alleging employment discrimination have fared increasingly poorly in the courts. In recent years, judges have dismissed scores of cases in which workers presented evidence that supervisors referred to them using racial or gender slurs. In one federal district court, judges dismissed more than 80 percent of the race discrimination cases filed over a year. And when juries return verdicts in favor of employees, judges often second guess those verdicts, finding ways to nullify the jury's verdict and rule in favor of the employer. Most Americans assume that that an employee alleging workplace discrimination faces the same legal system as other litigants. After all, we do not usually think that legal rules vary depending upon the type of claim brought. The employment law scholars Sandra A. Sperino and Suja A. Thomas show in Unequal that our assumptions are wrong. Over the course of the last half century, employment discrimination claims have come to operate in a fundamentally different legal system than other claims. It is in many respects a parallel universe, one in which the legal system systematically favors employers over employees. A host of procedural, evidentiary, and substantive mechanisms serve as barriers for employees, making it extremely difficult for them to access the courts. Moreover, these mechanisms make it fairly easy for judges to dismiss a case prior to trial. Americans are unaware of how the system operates partly because they think that race and gender discrimination are in the process of fading away. But such discrimination still happens in the workplace, and workers now have little recourse to fight it legally. By tracing the modern history of employment discrimination, Sperino and Thomas provide an authoritative account of how our legal system evolved into an institution that is inherently biased against workers making rights claims.
