The War on Disabled People - Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe

Winner of the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing Award 2021 In 2016, a United Nations report found the UK government culpable for ''grave and systematic violations'' of disabled people''s rights. Since then, driven by the Tory government''s obsessive drive to slash public spending whilst scapegoating the most disadvantaged in society, the situation for disabled people in Britain has continued to deteriorate. Punitive welfare regimes, the removal of essential support and services, and an ideological regime that seeks to deny disability has resulted in a situation described by the UN as a ''human catastrophe''.In this searing account, Ellen Clifford - an activist who has been at the heart of resistance against the war on disabled people - reveals precisely how and why this state of affairs has come about. From spineless political opposition to self-interested disability charities, rightwing ideological myopia to the media demonization of benefits claimants, a shocking picture emerges of how the government of the fifth-richest country in the world has been able to marginalize disabled people with near-impunity. Even so, and despite austerity biting ever deeper, the fightback has begun, with a vibrant movement of disabled activists and their supporters determined to hold the government to account - the slogan ''Nothing About Us Without Us'' has never been so apt. As this book so powerfully demonstrates, if Britain is to stand any chance of being a just and equitable society, their battle is one we should all be fighting.>

About the author

Ellen Clifford is a disabled activist who has worked within the disability sector, for over twenty years. She currently serves on the National Steering Group for Disabled People Against Cuts.

Product details

• Authors: Ellen Clifford
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.05.2022
• EAN: 9781350348165
• ISBN: 978-1-350-34816-5
• No. of pages: 384
• Dimensions: 138 mm x 214 mm x 24 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Education > Social education, social work; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; Human Rights, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Human Rights, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Poverty & Homelessness, SOCIAL SCIENCE / People with Disabilities, Political activism, Poverty & unemployment, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Social discrimination & inequality, Pressure groups, protest movements and non-violent action, Disability: social aspects, Human rights, civil rights, Demonstrations & protest movements, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination, Poverty and precarity, Political activism / Political engagement, Social discrimination and social justice