Disabilities, Culture and Identity is a succinct and accessible presentation of current research on disability, culture and identity. It is an ideal text for students and lecturers alike studying and working in the areas of Disability Studies and Social Policy. Disabilities, Culture and Identity provides a comprehensive and well-structured introduction to an area of growing importance. The authors provide up-to-date and extensive coverage of the development of thinking on cultures of disability, including those relating to people with learning difficulties, people with mental health problems and people with learning difficulties Also covered in detail are critical areas in disability studies including:

Chapter OneDisability, Culture and Identity: IntroductionIntroductionThe Social Model of Disability and CultureWhat is Culture?Culture and DisabilityDisability and IdentityStructure and Content of the BookConclusionReferences Chapter TwoDependent ChildrenTroubled AdolescentsNeedy Disabled PeopleDefined as 'The Other'Is it Possible to Have a Culture of ParticipationReferences Chapter ThreeDaily Denials: The Routinisation of Oppression and ResistanceIntroductionThe Importance of Interaction: reclaiming social InteractionPrejudiceThe Daily Experience of OppressionOppression as Patronage and the Denial of AgencyOppression as the Product of CharityBecoming the Centre of AttentionEngaging with Non-Disabled PeopleOppression as IgnoranceConclusionReferences Chapter FourImpairment, Disability and the Habitus of Old AgeIntroductionThinking about Disability and Old AgeTalking about Older Disabled PeoplePreoccupation with the Body and the Physical FunctionBiography and IdentityOlder Disabled People, Same or Different?References Chapter FiveChallenging a Spoiled Identity: Mental Health Service Users, Recognition and RedistributionIntroductionChallenging a Spoiled IdentityPatientCustomerUserSurvivorClientMemberPerson with the DiagnosisMadpersonNo Suitable TermTowards a Mental Health Identity?A Positive Identity?A Permanent Identity?Social Construct or Immanent Condition?A Shared Identity?Rethinking Identity?Conclusion: The Limits of DifferenceReferences Chapter SixDeafness / Disability - Problematising Notions of Identity, Culture and StructureIntroductionDeaf Studies: The Structural Penetration of CultureDisability Studies: The Cultural Penetration of StructureConclusionsReferences Chapter SevenAgainst a Politics of Victimisation: Disability Culture and Self-Advocates with Learning Difficulties.IntroductionDisabling and Disability CulturesResearching Self-AdvocacyEmbracing Cultures and Resilient IdentitiesResilience in the FamilyIdentity Formation and InstitutionalisationDisabled Identities and Self-Advocacy CultureSelf-Advocacy and the Disability MovementConclusionReferences Chapter EightNow I Know Why Disability Art is Drowning in the River LetheIntroductionThe Development of Disability Art in the UKCommercial Sponsorship of Art and Disability ArtState Sponsorship of Disability ArtThe Domestication of Disability Art and Disability ArtistsConclusionReferences Chapter NineMainstreaming Disability on Radio 4IntroductionMedia, Power and DisabilityInclusion, Exclusion and MainstreamingRights, Citizenship and ConsumerismProduction IssuesContentConclusionReferences Chapter TenDisability and Ethnicity: How Young Asian Disabled People Make Sense of their LivesIntroductionDisability and EthnicityThe StudyNegotiating IdentitiesThe Meaning of Disability for ParentsYoung People and the FamilyThe Social Meaning of DisabilityEthnic, Cultural and Religious IdentificationReligious and Cultural IdentificationDiscussionReferences Chapter ElevenCan Multiculturalism Encompass Disability?IntroductionCritical Multiculturalism and the Problem of the Able BodyAustralia - A Diverse Settler Society in CrisisCulture - The Dimension of Social MeaningsDisability as a Cultural MovementCrossover - Disability, Multiculturalism and ReconciliationPopulation and the Popular: Disability Engages with MulticulturalismConclusionReferences Index