Disability Studies


As interest in disability and human rights increases, there is a real risk that legal discussion will develop without adequately addressing - or even being aware of - the rich vein of writing and theory that has been so influential in shaping disability politics, policy and theory.

The Disability Archive UK - an excellent resource provided by Colin Barnes and his colleagues at the University of Leeds - should go a long way to providing the resources necessary for an introductory understanding of the social and political background to disability.

As the Archive states:

"There is little doubt that Disability Studies should be rooted in the work of disabled people and their organisations. An understanding of history is vital if we are to engage with the present and influence the future. But all too often we have little or no knowledge of the concerns and insights of those who went before.



The aim of the Disability Archive UK is to provide disabled people, students and scholars with an interest in this and related fields, access to the writings of those disability activists, writers and allies whose work may no longer be easily accessible in the public domain. It is hoped that the documents available via the Archive will help to inform current and future debates on disability and related issues. The Archive will be periodically expanded to include other material as and when it becomes available.



Colin Barnes [About the Archive]"




Although time spent on the Archive will, undoubtedly, be amply rewarded, there are some papers that I would particularly recommend, because of their influence or current relevance. These are listed, alphabetically, by author, as follows:

Paul Abberley - The Significance of Work for the Citizenship of Disabled People [a huge influence on my own thinking and writing; Paul's writing failed to achieve the exposure that I believe it deserved. A gifted thinker who always had time for those of us struggling to develop new ideas - or understand older ideas - Paul's sudden and premature death was a huge loss to disability studies and activism].

Colin Barnes - Disabled People in Britain and Discrimination: A case for anti-discrimination legislation [this book was particularly influential in my own growing consciousness of disability as a political issue, rather than personal tragedy and, despite being published in 1991, remains relevant. Because of the size of the publication, it is available by individual chapter and is listed under Colin Barnes' publications on the Archive].

Colin Barnes and Mike Oliver - Disability Politics: Where did it all go wrong? [a critique of the legalisation of disability, particularly relevant to current events. I would like to make this paper compulsory reading for everyone involved in the UN Convention.]

Paul Hunt - A Critical Condition [perhaps the single most influential paper on the development of disability politics and theory in the UK; Paul's writing remains a vital part of our history].

Mike Oliver - it is difficult for me to be objective about Mike Oliver, or his writing, as Mike provided the single greatest influence on the development of my own understanding of disability, not least as my PhD supervisor. The first two papers listed, below, are essential introductions, The Politics of Disablement was the source for one of the most widely cited - but poorly understood - concepts in disability theory, activism and practice: the Social Model.


The Disability Archive contains an enormous range of writing from an equally wide range of writers; selecting any writer or paper over any other is no easy task, but the foregoing suggestions provide, in my opinion, an excellent place to start.

What I hope will be clear, even from reading a small selection of the titles listed above, is that the need for a disability convention: that disabled people were systematically denied the rights to which we should have enjoyed equal access, will not be addressed unless and until the lessons of the disability movement are understood.

As Colin Barnes and Mike Oliver's paper - 'Disability Politics: Where did it all go wrong?' - makes clear, mistakes of the recent past are being compounded by the 'realpolitik' to which we are all, it is claimed, now subject. Will the Convention merely see the birth of a new breed of non-disabled and non-representative experts? At present, the signs are less than promising; the last word should be given to Barnes and Oliver:

'... the singular focus on disability as a rights issue will not solve the problem of disability discrimination and oppression. At best, it will benefit only a very small minority of the disabled population: those with plenty of money to spend and those employed in the legal and related professions. At worst, it will legitimise further the rhetoric of those who support an inherently unjust and inequitable society and hamper further the struggle for meaningful equality and justice.'



Colin Barnes and Mike Oliver, 'Disability Politics: Where did it all go wrong?' at page 12



I would like to record my gratitude to Colin Barnes for permission to use material on the Disability Archive.