This paper will address recent debates surrounding the nature and cause of the complex process of disablement and their relevance to understanding calls for a universally accessible physical and cultural environment. It is divided into three main sections. The first part will explore changing perceptions of disability. Attention will centre on the traditional individualistic medical approach, the socio-political understanding or ‘social model of disability’ and the recent ‘biopsychosocial’ model of disability exemplified by the World Health Organisation’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. This will be followed by a discussion of the usefulness of the concept of ‘universal design’. The final section will discuss the significance of these developments in light of globalisation, associate economic, political and social crises, and the struggle for a fairer and just global society.

This paper argues that the spread of free market economics throughout the world has generated unprecedented inequalities within and between nation states. This has led to the systematic exclusion of people with perceived impairments from the mainstream of economic and community life in almost all societies, the generation of an international disabled people’s movement, and their demand for legal frameworks with which to address the multiple deprivations encountered by people viewed as ‘disabled’. It is argued that the poverty and exclusion encountered by disabled people and other oppressed groups in all societies will not be eliminated without fundamental structural change at the international level

This paper traces the relationship between the emergence of disability studies and the struggle for meaningful inclusion for disabled people with particular reference to the work of a pivotal figure in these developments: Len Barton. It is argued that the links between disability activism and the academy were responsible for the emergence of disability studies and that this has had an important influence on mainstream sociology and social and educational policy nationally and internationally. It is evident, however, that the impact of these developments has been only marginal and that in light of recent concerns about the global economy, environmental change and unprecedented population growth, the need for meaningful inclusion is more urgent than ever and cannot be dependent on the work of a few key individuals for its success

This article critically explores and adds to research on the social benefits of self‐directed support schemes for disabled people and their families. We argue that, although research to date has defined the benefits of such services within conventional ‘cost–benefit’ frameworks, this approach has failed to address the more significant challenge to traditional models of welfare and, particularly, the role of users of these schemes as employers. The article begins the process of repositioning understandings of welfare and work with reference to self‐ directed support services. In so doing we argue that future research and policy should be based on a more thorough analysis of the less acknowledged socio‐economic costs and benefits of these developments for users, their families, personal assistants and local/national economies

This report summarises results and findings from an investigation commissioned jointly by HEFCE and HEFCW (UK). The research project focused on higher education provision and support for disabled students.