This volume provides a new and innovative overview of the key issues and debates within the field of disability studies. Over recent years there has been an unprecedented upsurge of interest in the general area of disability and disability studies amongst academics and researchers in universities and colleges throughout the world. This has generated an increasingly expansive literature from a variety of perspectives including cultural studies, development studies, geography, history, philosophy, social policy, social psychology and sociology. Disability Studies Today provides an invaluable introduction to newly emergent debates and controversies as well as an overview of this increasingly important field of enquiry.

The volume's emphasis is primarily sociological and while the focus is on theoretical innovation and advancement, the arguments presented in this book have important political and policy implications for both disabled and non-disabled people. These arguments are developed from a position of engagement and activism by both established figures and newcomers to disability studies. The topics covered include: the history of the development of disability studies in Britain and America; key ideas, issues and thinkers; the role of the body; divisions and hierarchies; history, power and identity; work, politics and the disabled peoples' movement; globalization, human rights, research and the role of the academy.

This book will be an essential textbook for students of disability studies and will be invaluable to scholars, researchers, students, policy makers, professionals, and disabled and non-disabled people interested in human rights and disability.