The Role Of Protest Waves Cultural Frames And Institutional Activism In The Evolution Of American Disability Rights Policies

Visible protests reflect both continuity and change. This Element illustrates how protest around longstanding issues and grievances is punctuated by movement dynamics as well as broader cultural and institutional environments. The disability movement is an example of how activist networks and groups strategically adapt to opportunity and threat, linking protest waves to the development of issue politics. The Element examines sixty years of protest across numerous issue areas that matter for disability including social welfare, discrimination, transportation, healthcare, and media portrayals. Situating visible protest in this way provides a more nuanced picture of cycles of contention as they relate to political and organizational processes, strategies and tactics, and short-and-long-term outcomes. It also provides clues about why protest ebbs and flows, when and how protest matters, who it matters for, and for what.

“A really, really good book . . . both a specific history of [U.S.] disability policy as well as a broad story of the politics of social change.” —Jeremy R. Levine, American Journal of Sociology Despite the progress of decades-old disability rights policy, including the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, threats continue to undermine the wellbeing of this population. The United States is, thus, a policy innovator and laggard in this regard. In Politics of Empowerment, David Pettinicchio offers a historically grounded analysis of the singular case of U.S. disability policy, countering long-held views of progress that privilege public demand as its primary driver. By the 1970s, a group of legislators and bureaucrats came to act as “political entrepreneurs.” Motivated by personal and professional commitments, they were seen as experts leading a movement within the government. But as they faced obstacles to their legislative intentions, nascent disability advocacy and protest groups took the cause to the American people, forming the basis of the contemporary disability rights movement. Drawing on extensive archival material, Pettinicchio redefines the relationship between grassroots advocacy and institutional politics, revealing a cycle of progress and backlash embedded in the American political system. “A broad and ambitious study of the evolution of American disability policy and disability rights, incorporating changing policy approaches, governmental institutions, and social movement activities.” —Richard K. Scotch, Professor of Sociology, Public Policy, and Political Economy, University of Texas at Dallas “Excellent. . . . A must-read for those interested in social movements and citizen participation.” —Andrea Louise Campbell, Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science, MIT “Compelling.” —David S. Meyer, University of California, Irvine

The fight for disability rights continues, even in the wake of successful, ongoing advocacy, activism, and legislation. This valuable resource depicts how the fight has enhanced the lives of people with disabilities, and how readers can continue the efforts. Highlights of renowned activists with historical context, current events, and teen-friendly examples will help teens channel their interests, frustrations, and curiosity into effective activism. A timeline of events with safe, easy-to-implement ideas will inspire future changemakers to team up with others and change the world.

In this updated edition, Doris Zames Fleischer and Frieda Zames expand their encyclopedic history of the struggle for disability rights in the United States, to include the past ten years of disability rights activism.The book includes a new chapter on the evolving impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the continuing struggle for cross-disability civil and human rights, and the changing perceptions of disability. The authors provide a probing analysis of such topics as deinstitutionalization, housing, health care, assisted suicide, employment, education, new technologies, disabled veterans, and disability culture. Based on interviews with over one hundred activists, The Disability Rights Movement tells a complex and compelling story of an ongoing movement that seeks to create an equitable and diverse society, inclusive of people with disabilities.

Table of contents

This oral history provides a first-person account of the disability rights movement from one of its key organizers. David Landes played a pivotal role in the 1970s and 1980s, working to secure legal protections and civil rights for people with disabilities. This volume contains a transcript of interviews conducted with Landes in 2000, in which he reflects on his career and the challenges faced by the disability rights movement in the United States. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Examines the history of the movement for access rights for the disabled in the United States.

The Culture of Protest explores how religious activists and Central American immigrants, by protesting U.S. refugee and foreign policy, create practices, meanings, and relationships that are, themselves, a form of social change. Viewing change as an ongoing, incremental process reveals that the sanctuary movement's reinterpretations of legal, religious, and social practices produce cultural forms that enact participants' visions of a more just social order. Unlike recent studies that view U.S. social movements primarily as strategies for achieving political objectives, this book analyzes what goes on in the midst of protest - the conversions that some North Americans experience as they come to know Central American reality, the relationships that form between refugees and sanctuary workers, the jokes and stories told by volunteers, and the religious rituals devised by participants. This rich ethnography reveals facets of change that would be missed by focusing exclusively on explicit goals and long-term strategies. As they assist refugees, sanctuary workers develop international notions of citizenship, create ecumenical interpretations of faith, form egalitarian communities, and cross a border between first and third worlds to view their own society through the eyes of the poor. Sanctuary is thus not only a practical effort to aid refugees and affect U.S. policy but also a cultural and religious movement with profound implications for U.S. society.

In 1952, the Federal Republic of West Germany concluded a treaty with Israel whereby the Germans had to pay three billion Deutschmarks in compensation for the Holocaust. However, the Israelis felt that Germany owed Israel a moral as well as a financial debt, and thus expected further aid and protection. Although Germany made several concessions in favour of the Jewish State, particularly in the domain of armament, as Germany's political status increased, its national interest gradually took priority over that of Israel. George Lavy examines the grounds which motivated Germany to grant aid to Israel and the change in their relations as the German economy flourished and gained influence in world affairs.