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Rethinking Disability

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What are the dominant stories society tells about disability? Many sociologists explore ableism, agency, health, and power.

Research by Sociologists

Benderly, Beryl Lieff. (1990). Dancing without music: Deafness in America. Gallaudet University Press.

Chennat S. (2019). Sociology of Disability. In: Chennat S. (eds) Disability Inclusion and Inclusive Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0524-9_2

Calder-Dawe, O., Witten, K., & Carroll, P. (2020). Being the body in question: young people’s accounts of everyday ableism, visibility and disability. Disability & Society, 35(1), 132-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2019.1621742

Garland-Thomson, R. (1997). “Disability, Identity and Representation: An Introduction”, in Rethinking Normalcy, 63-74.

Davis, Lennard. (1995). Constructing Normalcy from Enforcing Normalcy. Verso Press. http://blogs.fad.unam.mx/asignatura/adriana_raggi/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Davis.pdf

Naples, N. A., Mauldin, L., & Dillaway, H. (2019). From the guest editors: Gender, disability, and intersectionality. Gender & Society, 33(1), 5-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243218813309

Soldatic, Karen. (2015). “Postcolonial reproductions: disability, indigeneity and the formation of the white masculine settler state of Australia.” Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture Volume 21, 2015 – Issue 1: Disability and Colonialism: (Dis)encounters and Anxious Intersectionalities Download: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504630.2014.995352

Stoll, L. C., & Egner, J. (2021). We must do better: Ableism and fatphobia in sociology. Sociology Compass, 15(4), e12869. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12869

Thomas, G. M. (2021). Dis-mantling stigma: Parenting disabled children in an age of ‘neoliberal-ableism’. The Sociological Review, 69(2), 451-467. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038026120963481

News or Related Stories

World Report on Disabilities

Canadian Resources on Disabilities

Independent living institute: A personal journey into disability politics

The Truth About Growing Up Disabled: Dylan Alcott

Endo Educational Organization of Canada

Sociology Courses at UVic

If you would like to explore disability in more depth, the Department offers a number of courses you might be interested in:

SOCI100A – Introduction to Sociology: Understanding Social Life
SOCI100B – Introduction to Sociology: Understanding Contemporary Society
SOCI202 – Constructing Social Problems
SOCI204 – Self, Identity and Society
SOCI285 – Health over the Life Course
SOCI316 – Social Movements
SOCI318 – Social Change
SOCI327 – International Perspectives on Inequities in Health and Health Care
SOCI389 – Death and Dying
SOCI432 – Issues in Health and Aging
SOCI433 – Issues in Demography and Families
SOCI436 – Issues in Sociology and Social Justice
SOCI438 – Issues in Contemporary Sociology
SOCI439A – Community Engaged Sociology I
SOCI439B – Community Engaged Sociology II