Disabled Policy

Reviews / Votes

'Edward Berkowitz's Disabled Policy is the most comprehensive and thorough history of American disability policy to date, one that is sure to become the standard reference on the subject. He has unearthed a wealth of detail about the people and ideas crucial to the formation of public policy toward the disabled, and cast them in an eminently readable, lively, and probing story. Most unusual, he has succeeded beautifully in writing a policy-oriented history. The questions he asks in examining the past and the framework he then uses to construct his narrative are motivated consistently by the desire to understand how topical policy dilemmas came about and what constrains their resolution.' Deborah Stone, The Public Historian 'With Disabled Policy: America's Programs for the Handicapped, Edward Berkowitz has given us a masterpiece. It is written in a clear and engaging style, superbly annotated and enriched by references to the political events of the past decades and to national figures. This book significantly elevates the level of discourse in a field that in prevailing years has become more widely recognised as representing a challenge our society cannot afford to minimize.' Gunnar Dybwad, Disability Studies Quarterly