Katharine Quarmby
A groundbreaking portrait of the way BritishÂ society treats some of its most disadvantaged members,Â this book is the first to examine the roots ofÂ the uncomfortable and often hostile attitudes towards disabled people, and to argue for greater official recognition of these crimes as hate crimes. Every few months thereâ€™s a shocking news story about the sustained, and often fatal, abuse of a disabled person. Itâ€™s easy to write off such cases as bullying that got out of hand, terrible criminal anomalies, or regrettable failures of the care system, but in fact they point to a more uncomfortable and fundamental truth about how our society treats its most unequal citizens. In ,Scapegoat,, Katharine Quarmby looks behind the headlines to trace the history of disability and our discomfort with disabled people. SheÂ also charts the modern disability rights movement from the veterans of WW2 and Vietnam in the U.S. and UK to those who have fought for independent living and the end of segregation, as well as equal rights, for the lastÂ 20 years. Combining fascinating examples from history with tenacious investigation and powerful first person interviews, ,Scapegoat, will change the way we think about disabilityâ€”and about the changes we must make as a society to ensure that disabled people are seen as equal citizens, worthy of respect, not targets for taunting, torture, and attack.
Nonfiction,Disability,Politics,Sociology
Scapegoat: Why We Are Failing Disabled People