by Bob Williams-Findlay
Pluto Press
11/20/2023, paperback
SKU: 9780745340982
The rise of the extreme right globally, the crisis of capitalism, and the withdrawal of all but the most punitive arms of the state are disastrously impacting disabled people's lives.
Bob Williams-Findlay offers an account of the transformative potential of disability praxis and how it relates to disabled politics and activism. He addresses different sites of struggle, showing how disabled people have advanced radical theory into implementing policies.
Examining the growth of the global Disabled People's Movement during the 1960s, Williams-Findlay shows how a new social discourse shifted away from seeing disability as restrictions on an individual's body towards understanding the impact of restrictions created by capitalist relations. He shines a light on the contested definitions of disability, asking us to reconsider how different socio-political contexts produce varied understandings of social oppression and how we can play a role in transforming definitions and societies.
Reviews:
"A masterful intervention in disability theory and praxis that is particularly pertinent for an age of austerity, pandemic, and rising living costs." -- Robert Chapman, author of Empire of Normality: Neurodiversity and Capitalism
"[A] brilliant and much needed contribution to current debates in Disability Politics - offering a timely corrective to the most recent approaches to disability that have taken a neoliberal turn." -- Ioana Cerasella Chis, social researcher, University of Birmingham
"Look no further for a comprehensive analysis of the disabled movement which also intelligently looks at how disability can fit into the modern world." -- Josh Hepple, activist, writer, and Disability Equality Trainer
About the Author:
Bob Williams-Findlay is the founder of Birmingham Disability Rights Group and the former Chair of the national organisation BCODP. He has written in various publications on the topic of disability politics.