Disability research today: international perspectives, edited by Tom Shakespeare, London, Routledge, 2015, 270 pp., £29.99 (paperback), ISBN 978-0-41-574844-5, £90.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-41-574843-8 Boglarka Kiss Pages 1-2 | Published online: 27 Sep 2016 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2016.1233659 The collection of essays titled Disability Research Today. International Perspectives offers a rich overview of the wide range of research projects and scholarly investigations that define and make up the field of contemporary Disability Studies in an international context. The editor of the volume, Tom Shakespeare, defines Disability Studies as an academic practice which aims to ‘fill knowledge gaps’ (1) in our understanding of disability and works to ‘help support policy change’ (1). As such, Shakespeare’s understanding of Disability Studies not only emphasises the process of academic investigations of issues surrounding disability, but foregrounds a strong commitment to political action.
The authors of the volume directly respond to and engage with the lived experiences of disabled people through empirical research with the expressed aim of working towards policy change. This is in line with Shakespeare’s most fundamental aim with the volume, which is to place ‘Disability Studies on a stronger empirical footing’ (3). The majority of papers present research findings based on case studies (Ishihara; Corbisiero; Ghosh; Macdonald) and interviews with disabled people (Bezmez and Yardimci; Ferrie and Watson; Rice, Björnsdóttir, and Smith; Strnadová; Haualand). Significantly, Iva Strnadová’s text titled ‘“My Sister Won’t Let Me”: Issues of Control over One’s Own Life as Experienced by Older Women with Intellectual Disabilities’ introduces the findings of a project in which ‘four researchers with intellectual disabilities who were older women themselves’ (170) were also involved. As such, Strnadová’s research project not only gives voice to a marginalised and oppressed social group, but also offers new and important ways of conducting Disability Studies research. Through emphasising the importance of empirical research methods, Shakespeare situates his own research and the essays in the volume within the framework of what he identifies as the three main strands of Disability Studies. As opposed to subscribing to a ‘materialist’ (2) or ‘constructionist’ (3) mode of inquiry, Shakespeare and the authors of the volume follow a Critical Realist approach and a number of the essays apply a social relational model of disability (Ferrie and Watson; Macdonald; Rice, Björnsdóttir, and Smith; Ferrucci and Cortini). As already mentioned, a significant number of essays in the collection scrutinise various laws and policies which have palpable consequences on the lived experiences of people with disabilities and offer new avenues for policy-making. Numerous essays refer to the principles of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the local policies deriving from the CRPD (Corbisiero; Series; Ferrucci and Cortini). The essays investigate whether the regulations set out by the CRPD have been enforced and whether these procedures have been successful in increasing the social inclusion as well as the living standards of people with disabilities. The authors of the volume explore a broad range of policies which affect the everyday lives of disabled people in various fields of experience. For example, Fabio Corbisiero’s ‘Italian Strategies for Job Placement of Persons with Disabilities: A Network Case’ critiques the processes of ‘targeted placement’ (66) policies and Italy’s strategies of including disabled people into the Italian labour market within the framework of the International Classification of Functioning guidelines. Similarly, Lucy Series’s essay ‘Mental Capacity and the Control of Sexuality of People with Intellectual Disabilities in England and Wales’ investigates the ‘two legal regimes’ (149) of the Sexual Offences Act (2003) and the Mental Capacity Act (2005). Series addresses how these policies define, construct and test intellectually disabled people’s capacity to consent to sex and have sexual relationships, and analyses how these legal procedures have the ability to exercise control over people’s sexuality, and in a broader sense, agency and personal autonomy. One of the most important issues which runs through the collection is the question of personal autonomy, agency and self-determination in the context of the unequal power dynamics of social, cultural and legal frameworks that disabled people are placed in. The contention over whether disabled people are seen as capable of making their own decisions in the context of their sexuality (Series), everyday activities, living arrangements and finances (Rice, Björnsdóttir, and Smith; Strnadová), job or education choices (Corbisiero; Ferrucci and Cortini) is presented as one of the most pressing issues people with disabilities face in contemporary society. In virtually every context addressed by the research projects presented in the volume, a fundamental power imbalance emerges which leaves disabled people disempowered and assigns control to figures of authority and forces of normalisation. The disempowered and disenfranchised position disabled people occupy also makes them especially vulnerable not only to social or economic disadvantage, but also to a disproportionate rate of physical violence, as shown by Ghosh’s and Hanisch’s essays. One of the greatest merits of the volume is that it gives voice to groups of people who are underrepresented in popular discourse or even Disability Studies research itself. For example, Jo Ferrie and Nick Watson’s essay ‘The Psycho-Social Impact of Impairments: The Case of Motor Neurone Disease’ makes a strong case for including the lives of people with chronic illnesses in Disabilities Studies research, while Iva Strnadová’s text on older women with intellectual disabilities presents research on a social group about which the author claims that its members ‘are among the least understood members of society’ (166). As opposed to the dominant cultural contexts of Disability Studies which focus on UK and US frameworks, the volume’s international scope makes sure that the voices of diverse national communities are heard. The essays’ accessible language makes the volume suitable for a non-academic/non-specialist audience; as such, Disability Research Today could be thoroughly recommended for those wishing to familiarise themselves with the broad range of experiences and issues that today’s Disability Studies research engages with. Boglarka Kiss Doctoral School of Literature, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary b.ki...@exeter.ac.uk -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
