Michele Moore

Disability: Who counts? What counts?

The 2015 Special Issue of Disability & Society brings together timely discussion of how changing sociopolitical and cultural relations are redefining disability. Use of the disabled person category is contentious even within Disability Studies and accordingly the Call for Papers attracted a wealth of international contributions reflecting wide interest in the theme of the Special Issue and diverse interpretations of disability in cross-cultural and temporal contexts. Papers selected by the Executive Editorial Board for inclusion in the 2015 Special Issue critically explore a range of ideas about categories of disability and highlight the need for vigilance over matters of disability category, in and around which immensely difficult ramifications of questions of ‘who counts?’ and ‘what counts?’ in an ever-changing world are embedded. Our selection of papers is indicative of an extensive and high quality response to our Call for Papers which showed contributors to Disability & Society know there is no room for complacency in the struggle for realization of the rights of disabled people across the globe as the twenty-first century moves on. The category and experience of disability have continually to be contested and challenged. We are proud of the role the journal plays, and in particular this 2015 Special Issue, in keeping alive the struggle to ensure that disabled people do count, and also the questions of what counts and how, in the realization of equality and inclusion. Papers in this Issue focus broadly on questions of ‘who is considered to identify or not identify as disabled?’ and ‘what are the implications of inclusion or exclusion from the disabled category?’ Some of the papers disturb understandings of the disability category, bringing important discussions of intersectionality and identity into new significance or light. Silence is harmful to excluded individuals and communities and our ability to problematise the diversity of disabled people’s identity and experience is expanded through the discussions. Some writers concentrate on resistance of narrowing of the disability category which is being acutely felt in relation to the context of austerity, exploring the implications of this and, in particular, the fear that changing welfare contexts reduce protection of the interests of disabled people and their families. The scale and complexity of disability when people are caught up in conflict and war tends to shift ideas of who is in the disability category, who’s out and who and what counts, and research from such contexts included in this Special Issue highlights different stories and issues for reflection. Other papers focus more specifically on transformation of disability research, voice, the importance of political and professional action, and the role of these as mechanisms for challenging conceptions of disability and resisting oppression. The transformation of disability theory to shore up and drive activism is a recurring theme. Readers will find this Special Issue an essential resource for locating contemporary concerns about disability and society of relevance to students and researchers

Disability, global conflicts and crises

The Call for Papers for this Special Issue attracted contributions from many different parts of the world affirming considerable interest in the theme. New challenges and forms of resistance associ...