Please excuse cross-postings. Steve
DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JANUARY 14
Call for Papers
Special Issue of the Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal
www.rds.hawaii.edu
Parting the Waters: Disability and Deliverance in the Wake of Disaster
We are soliciting articles for a forum on disability and disasters, to be
published as a special issue of the Review of Disability Studies: An
International Journal (RDS). Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, and the lasting effects
of 9/11, have created heightened awareness of the impact of disastrous events
on people with disabilities. While much of the current interest within the
field of Disability Studies in the impact of disasters upon the life
circumstances of people with disabilities has been inspired by Hurricane Katrina and its
aftermath, there are many reasons to regard this and other disasters as the
critical nexus of a much larger conversation. The American hurricanes of 2005
followed months after a major Asian/East African tsunami and preceded a major
earthquake in South Asia. Both claimed many more lives and incurred many more
injuries and much more property damage even than occurred in the US. As
always, such cataclysms always impact far more the largely o
verlapping categories of people with disabilities, the poor and other
socially-disadvantaged groups.
Like the culturally-defined status of dis-ability, the designation of
ecological events as dis-asters is a social construct, in that ecologies are both
natural and human. The large losses incurred recently within and beyond the
disability community have more than climatic causes. Human solutions and
preventative measures for such “natural” disasters are distinct possibilities. It
must also be recognized that those who endure most in such circumstances are
often held responsible for their own plight. It is as if disability issues that
place persons at greater risk are a personal choice or a consequence of
personal moral failure. This, of course, reprises old, ubiquitous and pernicious
theories about the root causes of impairment and other difficulties, attributions
of personal and/or collective failings, guilt or “sin.”
We propose a forum that contemplates the social constructions of dis-ability
and dis-aster as widely as possible, with regard to both subject and
methodology. In addition to papers from U.S. authors, papers by authors from outside
of the U.S. or that discuss these issues on an international scale are
strongly encouraged. Papers might address any of the following topics, but are by no
means limited to those suggested:
1) Inequities in the distribution of disaster relief as they impact people
with disabilities.
2) Disability as the consequence of disasters, along with measures to address
disability issues in the wake of disasters.
3) Findings from research on progress/best practices in the area of disaster
preparation and relief for people with disabilities.
4) Increased vulnerability to disasters as a consequence of failure to
implement disability accommodations in institutions, facilities, public policy and
planning for emergencies.
5) Disability and illness as causes for disaster; blaming the victims; the
impaired and ill as sinful and culpable.
6) Disability as metaphor for disaster in expressive and ideological disco
urse including but certainly not limited to literature, film, visual arts, and
religion/scripture.
7) Research related to the lived experience of persons with disabilities in
disaster areas.
8) Critical discourse analysis on media reactions to disasters, including the
interplay of disability, race, poverty, and social services/charity.
Send via email to Alex Lubet, [log in to unmask], Lori Rowlett,
[log in to unmask], and Christopher Johnstone, [log in to unmask] a 250-word abstract by January
6, 2006. Authors will be notified of acceptance by January 20. For those
selected, we will request completed articles of approximately 3000-5000 words.
Questions should be directed to Guest Editors: Alex Lubet (School of
Music/Center for Jewish Studies/Program in American Studies, University of Minnesota)
[log in to unmask], Lori Rowlett (Departments of Philosophy & Religion and Women’s
Studies, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire), [log in to unmask], Christopher
Johnstone (Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota)
[log in to unmask]
For more information about the Review of Disability Studies, go to
www.rds.hawaii.edu
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
22nd Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities
March 13-15, 2005
Sheraton Waikiki Hotel & Resort, Honolulu, HI
www.pacrim.hawaii.edu
Steven E. Brown, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Center on Disability Studies, www.cds.hawaii.edu
Editor, Review of Disability Studies, www.rds.hawaii.edu
1776 University Ave., UA4-6
Honolulu, HI 96822
Co-Founder
Institute on Disability Culture
http://hometown.aol.com/sbrown8912/
Movie Stars and Sensuous Scars:
Essays on the Journey from Disability Shame to
Disability Pride
information at: http://hometown.aol.com/sbrown8912/page7.html
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