ABSTRACT
Recent decades have seen disability become a hotly contested issue: in the political arena, with the development of the disabled people’s movement, and in academic debates. Political interventions have centred on issues of discrimination and segregation, moving beyond the traditional concerns about medical and welfare provision to focus on areas such as anti-discrimination legislation; the role of charity and cultural representation; segregation in transport and education; and innovations to increase autonomy (through centres for independent living). The academic debate has developed the concept of the social model, originally initiated within the Union of Physically Impaired against Segregation (UPIAS), and seen a conflict between the approaches of disabled and nondisabled researchers.
