* Why has 'the discursive turn' been sidelined in the development of a social theory of disability, and what has been the result of this? * How might a social theory of disability which fully incorporates the multidimensional and multifunctional role of language be described? * What would such a theory contribute to a more inclusive understanding of 'discourse' and 'culture'? The idea that disability is socially created has, in recent years, been increasingly legitimated within social, cultural and policy frameworks and structures which view disability as a form of social oppression. However, the materialist emphasis of these frameworks and structures has sidelined the growing recognition of the central role of language in social phenomena which has accompanied the 'linguistic turn' in social theory. As a result, little attention has been paid within Disability Studies to analysing the role of language in struggle and transformation in power relations and the engineering of social and cultural change. Drawing upon personal narratives, rhetoric, material discourse, discourse analysis, cultural representation, ethnography and contextual studies, international contributors seek to emphasize the multi-dimensional and multi-functional nature of disability language in an attempt to further inform our understanding of disability and to locate disability more firmly within contemporary mainstream social and cultural theory.

With contributions from leading scholars in the USA, Canada, the UK, Switzerland, Japan, India, Australia and Jordan, Disability and Postmodernity is the first book to study disability within the context of the "postmodern" world of the twenty-first century. Organized into three sections, the volume opens with an exploration of theoretical perspectives, looking especially at phenomenology, at the body, and at concepts of difference and identity. The second section deals with culture, discussing aesthetics, narrative, film, architecture and design, while the final section explores social practice, including chapters on disabled childrens' perspectives, sexual identity and "madness and mental distress."The collection creates a bridge between social science perspectives on disability (predominant in disability studies in the UK for example) and humanities perspectives (which dominate the US approach). The authors aim to demystify the concept of postmodernity and to suggest ways in which it fosters a holistic approach to the study of disability that better represents and reflects the complexity of disabled people's experience. This is a unique and important contribution to both disability studies and social and cultural theory.>

This comprehensive volume assesses the relationship between legal rights and disability and the effect of law, legal process and third party professional intervention on the lives of people with disabilities. Stressing the crucial role played by disabled people themselves in fulfilling the promise of the worldwide rights movement, the chapters examine this relationship across a variety of themes, stressing the legal elements of each issue, and the extent to which law can assist in strengthening individual rights in that area. The contributors, who are all either academics or other professional experts in their field, write in a jargon free accessible style. The volume will be of interest to lawyers, human rights activists, health care professionals and to disabled people generally. The main areas covered in the volume are: * new perspectives on working in partnership with disabled people; * the changing attitudes to the rights of people with disabilities across the globe; * improvements to the rights of disabled people through legal process, using national and international law; * an examination of the rights and entitlement of disabled people to community care, housing, employment, education, and special services for children; * disabled people and mental health law; * messages from disability research for law, practice and reform implications for research.