Dear All,
I'd like to share the call for papers for an exciting new volume of Research
in Social Science and Disability:
Call for Papers
Statements of Interest Due May 15, 2014
Sociology and Disability: What Did we Know and When Did We Know It?
Research in Social Science and Disability, Volume 9
Edited by Sara Green and Sharon Barnartt
Current research in Sociology of Disability and in Disability
Studies [as in many other fields] has a tendency to assume that there was
very little written in this area until the last 20 or so years. However, it
occurs quite often that someone [usually, but not always, older] will say of
work done by someone [usually, but not always, younger], "That is not new.
So-and-so wrote about that a long time ago." In part the lack of awareness
of older writing occurs because of the ease of computerized searching for
recent references or a sense that newer is better. It also reflects the
assumption that Sociology as a field has ignored either disability as a
social phenomenon or treated it solely as a medical phenomenon as well as
the fact that these writings tend to be widely scattered and not found just
in sociology journals or books.
While it is true that theorists and introductory textbooks tended [and still
tend] to ignore disability as a non-medical phenomenon and especially as a
structured source of inequality, that does not mean that no attention was
paid to disability in the earlier years of sociological thinking. Rather,
interest in disability from a sociological point of view exists in the
literature as early as the late 1800s, and some very profound articles were
written in the mid- 20th century.
The purpose of this volume is to explore that literature, with an eye
towards encouraging current scholars not to ask "the same old" questions but
to be able to use the older writings as a basis for revolutionary as well as
evolutionary thinking. What do the older writings tell us about what
questions we should be asking, and what research we should be doing, today?
This call for papers is seeking articles which review and evaluate
literature in sociology which explicitly viewed disability through a
non-medical, sociological lens. There are several ways in which an author
might frame the questions we are asking here, although these are not
mutually exclusive and very well might overlap:
1) A paper might focus on how specific sociological questions or
concepts were applied to the general area of disability. These concepts
could include identity, interaction patterns, social structures, cultural
issues, roles, status attainment, minority group, and social movement. A
paper would review and evaluate that literature.
2) A paper might focus on sociological aspects of specific
impairments. It would explore how topics such as those listed above, or
similar topics, are affected by, or affect, specific impairments. Examples
could be blindness and interaction patterns, deafness and culture, social
movement mobilizations among parents of children with developmental
disabilities, status attainment patterns of blind workers, or the social
structure of the deaf community.
3) A paper might be based upon the work of a specific person, such as
Harriet Martineau, Saad Nagi, Constantina Safilios-Rothschild, Irving Zola,
Gary Albrecht, Mary Jo Deegan, Paul Higgins, Jeff Nash, etc. This type of
paper would summarize and evaluate that person's work and their contribution
to later sociological issues.
4) A paper might look at the sociological writing which appeared during
a specific time period, such as after WWII. Such a paper might analyze the
relationship of the time period to what was being written about disability
in sociology.
We are seeking expressions of interest and commitments to write a paper on
an appropriate topic. The due date for us to receive such statements is May
15, 2014. The completed paper will be due in January, 2015. The completed
manuscripts, revised after peer review, will be due at the beginning of
June, 2015. This volume will be published at the end of 2015.
Please send all communications to Sara Green [[log in to unmask]] and Sharon
Barnartt [[log in to unmask]].
Barbara M. Altman, Ph.D.
Disability Statistics Consultant
14608 Melinda Lane
Rockville, MD 20853
Phone: 301-460-5963
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
________________End of message________________
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