Disability Studies : An Interdisciplinary Introduction

This introduction to disability studies represents a clear, engaging, and consistently thought-provoking study of the field.

The book discusses the global nature of disability studies and disability politics, introduces key debates in the field and represents the intersections of disability studies with feminism, queer, and postcolonial theory.

The book has a clear and coherent format which matches the interdisciplinary framework of disability studies - including chapters on sociology, critical psychology, discourse analysis, psychoanalysis and education. Sitting alongside discussions on the global and glocal significance of disability studies these chapters include:

Sociology: structure, ideology and story
Psychology: subjectivity, self and others
Discourse: of bodies, minds and institutions
Culture: the imaginary and symbolic foundations of disablism

Each chapter engages with important areas of analysis such as the individual, society, community, and education to explore the realities of oppression experienced by disabled people and to develop the possibilities for addressing it.

Broad, dynamic, and interdisciplinary in scope this book will be crucial reading for students, researchers, and practitioners alike.

Dan Goodley is Professor of Disability Studies and Education at the University of Sheffield and co-director of iHuman: an interdisciplinary institute for the study of the human. Previously he has worked at the University of Leeds and Manchester Metropolitan University. He has published numerous books and articles associated with critical disability studies including Self-advocacy in the Lives of People with learning disabilities (Open University Press, 2000), Disability Studies (Routledge, 2016, second edition), Disability Studies (Sage, 2014) and Disability and Other Human Questions (Emerald, 2020). He is currently the principal investigator on a major six year pan-national programme of disability, health and science research, funded by a Wellcome Trust Discretionary Award entitled Disability Matters (2023 - 2029). He is an avid fan of Nottingham Forest football club, cake, sewing and Sleaford Mods (possibly in that order).