Social Inclusion, Volume 6, Issue 1 (special issue)

Title: Disability Equality: In Theory and Practice

Editor: Mark Priestley (University of Leeds, UK)

Deadline for Abstracts: 1 April 2017
Submission of Full Papers: 15 to 30 September 2017
Publication of the Issue: February/March 2018

http://www.cogitatiopress.com/ojs/index.php/socialinclusion/pages/view/nextissues#disabilityequality

Information: The focus of this thematic issue is on ‘disability equality’—as a multi-dimensional theoretical construct, as a tool for rights-based advocacy and as a framework for monitoring evidence of social inclusion.

Much has been written about the historic shift that has taken place in thinking about disability as a social issue over recent decades. The influence of ‘social model’ approaches has been immense in this respect, providing the analytical lens through which disability is now more often viewed as institutional discrimination and oppression than as individual deficit or personal tragedy. This transformation was inspired both by a critique of disabling barriers and by a vision of a more equal and inclusive society— a vision for ‘full participation and equality’.

The rights-based advocacy of disabled people’s movements has both inspired this way of thinking and given it focus through substantive claims to political and social equality. In the decade since implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) the expectation that such claims exist ‘on an equal basis with others’ has been consolidated. At the same time, the evidence base has grown with an increase in equality monitoring of policies and outcomes for disabled persons.

Theorising within disability studies has continued to explore what disability, disablement or ableism means, and the multitude of ways in which it is experienced, but there is a need to reflect also on what ‘full participation and equality’ really means. How should we understand the concept of ‘disability equality’, how useful is it and how can it be assessed or measured? Ten years on from the CRPD what progress has been made towards disability equality, what remains to be done and how should we approach the task?

This issue is based on an open call for papers with an interdisciplinary scope to consider disability equality as, for example, equal recognition, equal treatment, equal access to resources and environments, or equality of outcomes. Both theoretical and empirical contributions are relevant to addressing this in local, national or international contexts.

Instructions for Authors: Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal’s editorial policies and to send their abstracts (about 200-250 words, with a tentative title) by email to the journal’s editorial office (si@cogitatiopress.com ) by 1 April 2017.

Open Access: The journal has an article publication fee to cover its costs and guarantee that the article can be accessed free of charge by any reader, anywhere in the world, regardless of affiliation. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and advise them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication fees. Institutions can also join Cogitatio’s Membership Program at a very affordable rate and enable all affiliated authors to publish without incurring any fees. Further information about the journal’s open access charges and institutional members can be found here.

Social Inclusion is both a ‘gold standard’ open access journal and a fully indexed journal, with an international editorial board. Open access is now a requirement for the outputs of most publicly funded research. We welcome the fact that this gives activists, NGOs and members of the public a free and equal opportunity to read the findings of research that has been funded by public money. The best of our research papers should be open to everyone to read. We also recognise that removing the barriers for readers has implications for authors, especially if they have not yet won publicly funded research grants. This includes some early career researchers and some researchers who work outside universities. Papers are judged on quality and we would not expect authors to pay personally for the right to publish (there is a note about this at the end) but note that the cost of publishing a peer reviewed ‘gold standard’ open access journal paper is often less than the cost of presenting the same paper at an international conference (and to a much wider audience).