critical legal theories

despite the widespread belief that canada is a country of liberty, equality, and inclusiveness, many persons with disabilities experience social exclusion and marginalization. in this book, twenty-four scholars from a variety of disciplines contend that achieving equality for the disabled is not fundamentally a question of medicine or health, nor is it an issue of sensitivity or compassion. rather, it is a question of politics, and of power and powerlessness. this book argues that we need a new understanding of participatory citizenship that encompasses the disabled, new policies to respond to their needs, and a new vision of their entitlements.

using a critical analysis of disability in archival records, personal collections, government publications and a series of interviews, galer demonstrates how demands for greater access among disabled people for paid employment stimulated the development of a new discourse of disability in canada. employment was, and remains, a central component in disabled peoples' efforts to become productive, autonomous and financially secure members of canadian society.

a comprehensive overview of law and disability issues in canada. the authors discuss persons with disabilities and their interactions with the law as a holistic phenomenon that requires knowledge of and engagement with different areas of law. through an examination of barriers regularly faced by people with disabilities, they present key and foundational domestic and international equality rights instruments (including the charter, human rights law and the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities), the history of disability rights litigation and several contemporary access to justice issues.

disability exists in the shadows of public awareness and at the periphery of policy making. people with disabilities are, in many respects, missing from the theories and practices of social rights, political participation, employment, and civic membership. absent citizens brings to light these chronic deficiencies in canadian society and emphasizes the effects that these omissions have on the lives of citizens with disabilities.

women with disabilities are subject to the discriminatory attitudes of a disabling society on a daily basis. when they become or seek to become mothers, these biases too often influence the views of those best positioned to support them, including government officials, health care professionals, child protection workers, and parenting assessors. as a result, their particular needs as disabled parents go unmet, with negative consequences for both mothers and their children. this project explores the legal and policy issues affecting mothers and prospective mothers with disabilities

in 1981, toronto activist mel starkman wrote: ""an important new movement is sweeping through the western world.... the 'mad,' the oppressed, the ex-inmates of society's asylums are coming together and speaking for themselves."" mad matters is the first canadian book to bring together the writings of this vital movement, which has grown explosively in the years since. with contributions from scholars in numerous disciplines, as well as activists and psychiatric survivors, it presents diverse critical voices that convey the lived experiences of the psychiatrized and challenges dominant understandings of ""mental illness.""

investigates the development of canadian immigration policy with respect to persons with a disease or disability throughout the twentieth century. with an emphasis on social history, this book examines the way the state operates through legislation to achieve its goals of self-preservation even when such legislation contradicts state commitments to equality rights. looking at the ways federal politicians, mainstream media, and the judicial system have perceived persons with disabilities, specifically immigrant applicants with disabilities, this book reveals how canadian immigration policy has systematically omitted any reference to this group, rendering them socially invisible.

two things are certain in the contemporary workplace: the aging of employees, and negative attitudes toward them - especially those with disabilities--by younger colleagues and supervisors. yet related phenomena seem less clear: how do negative stereotypes contribute to discrimination on the job? and how are these stereotypes perceived in legal proceedings? bringing theoretical organization to an often unfocused literature, disability and aging discrimination offers research in these areas at the same level of rigor as research into racial and gender discrimination. the book applies social analytic jurisprudence, a framework for testing legal assumptions regarding behavior, and identifies controversies and knowledge gaps in age-discrimination and disability law.

ableism is embedded in canadian criminal justice institutions, policies, and practices, making incarceration and institutionalization dangerous - even deadly - for disabled people. disability injustice brings together highly original work by a range of scholars and activists who explore disability in the historical and contemporary canadian criminal justice system.