`This remarkable book is unlike any other I have reviewed, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, at 700 pages and with 34 chapters, the sheer scale of the collection is vast. The editors state that the book is not definitive, but represents a creative work in progress. However, the collection certainly provides a unique insight into the current debates and issues which frame disability studies, combining a variety of different backgrounds and a diverse range of experiences, and this manifests in the way that the chapters range across academic disciplines. Consequently, the book is aimed at a wide audience including disabled people, practitioners, academics and those involved in forming social welfare policies' - Medical Sociology News

Introduction: The Formation of Disability Studies - Gary L Albrecht, Katherine D Seelman, and Michael BuryPART ONE: THE SHAPING OF DISABILITIES STUDIES AS A FIELDAn Institutional History of Disability - David L Braddock and Susan ParishCounting Disability - Glenn T Fujiura and Violet Rutkowski-Kmitta Disability Definitions, Models, Classification Schemes and Applications - Barbara Altman Theorizing Disability - Gareth WilliamsMethodological Paradigms That Shape Disability Research - Scott Campbell BrownDisability - Patrick Fougeyrollas and Line Beauregard An Interactive Person-Environment Social CreationRepresentation and Its Discontents - David T Mitchell and Sharon L Snyder The Uneasy Home of Disability in Literature and FilmPhilosophical Issues in the Definition and Social Response to Disability - David Wasserman Disability and the Sociology of the Body - Bryan S Turner Intellectual Disabilities- Quo Vadis? - Trevor R ParmenterDisability, Bioethics and Human Rights - Adrienne Asch Disability Studies and Electronic Networking - Ellen Liberti Blasiotti, John D Westbrook, and Iwao KobayashiPART TWO: EXPERIENCING DISABILITYDivided Understandings - Carol Gill The Social Experience of DisabilityMapping the Family - Philip M Ferguson Disability Studies and the Exploration of Parental Response to DisabilityDisability and Community - Michael P Kelly A Sociological ApproachWelfare States and Disabled People - Robert F DrakeAdvocacy and Political Action - Sharon Barnartt, Kay Schrinerm and Richard Scotch Health Care Professionals and Their Attitudes Towards, and Decisions Affecting Disabled People - Ian Basnett The Role of Social Networks in the Lives of Persons with Disabilities - Bernice A Pescosolido Inclusion/Exclusion - Jean-François Ravaud and Henri-Jacques Stiker An Analysis of Historical and Cultural MeaningsPART THREE: DISABILITY IN CONTEXTDisability Culture - Colin Barnes and Geoff Mercer Assimilation or Inclusion?Identity Politics, Disability and Culture - Lennard J Davis Making the Difference - Tom Shakespeare and Nick Watson Disability, Politics, and RecognitionDisability Human Rights, Law and Policy - Jerome E Bickenbach The Political Economy of the Disability Marketplace - Gary L Albrecht and Michael BuryDisability and Health Policy - Gerben DeJong and Ian Basnett The Role of Markets in the Delivery of Health ServicesDisability Benefit Programs - Bonnie O¿Day and Monroe Berkowitz Can We Improve the Return to Work Record?A Disability Studies Perspective on Employment Issues and Policies for Disabled People - Kay Schriner An International ViewScience and Technology Policy - Katherine D Seelman Is Disability a Missing Factor?Disability, Education and Inclusion - Len Barton and Felicity Armstrong Cross-Cultural Issues and DilemmasSupport Systems - Simi Litvak and Alexandra Enders The Interface Between Individuals and EnvironmentsThe Relationship between Disabled People and Health and Welfare Professionals - Sally French and John Swain Public Health Trends in Disability - Don Lollar Past, Present, and FutureDisability in the Developing World - Benedicte Ingstad