![\"Keywords\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2016\/07\/Keywords-286x300.jpg\")
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Keywords for Disability Studies. <\/em>Edited by Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reiss and David Serlin. New York University Press, 2015.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Reviewed by Kathryn Lafferty, PhD student in Comparative Humanities, University of Louisville<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Disability studies as a field has extended into many areas of scholarship, from literature to sociology, gaining much attention as it grew out of the activism of\u00a0the 1960s and 1970s. Since then, scholars have made a distinction between the \u201cmedical model\u201d of disability, which focuses on individual deficiencies that need to be cured, and the \u201csocial model\u201d of disability that puts emphasis on the physical and social environments that impact the individual, such as stigmatization of the disabled.<\/p>\n Keywords for Disability Studies<\/em>, edited by Rachel Adams, Benjamin Reiss, and David Serlin, provides sixty-two significant concepts within the field of disability studies, covering topics from \u201cability\u201d to \u201cvulnerability\u201d from a social model perspective. This comprehensive overview of the major concepts within disability studies is a well-organized and detailed array of essays from over sixty different authors, many of whom are notable scholars in the field. Keywords for Disability Studies<\/em> is an excellent addition to the most recent scholarship and offers both scholars and students an in-depth look at some of the core concepts that drive disability studies as a field. The language throughout the book is easily accessible for scholars and students at all levels, concepts and\u00a0theories explained in detail, making this an ideal text for someone new to disability studies. It is also an equally beneficial text for those already familiar with the field. Although there is not always cross-over between the essays, the text was\u00a0undoubtedly crafted as a cohesive unit as\u00a0the essays complement each\u00a0other. With over twenty pages of cited material, this text is also useful as a reference guide for further scholarship on disability studies. In addition, the structure of the text is creatively designed, a welcome change from\u00a0the more \u201ctraditional\u201d chaptered\u00a0format.<\/p>\n The book is not necessarily meant to be read cover-to-cover, but can be used more as a conceptual reference. Focusing on one essay\u00a0at a time provides the reader with an in-depth view of a concept within disability studies and not simply an account of events or a brief definition of the term. All\u00a0sixty essays\u00a0are relatively short, each between two and\u00a0four\u00a0pages in length. This style is modeled from Raymond Williams\u2019 Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society<\/em> (1976).<\/p>\n The introduction, written by all three editors, is brief but provides an overview of what disability studies is and how it has evolved over time. The authors\u00a0state that \u201cthe goal in designing this volume was not simply to define terms but to use them to delineate the field\u2019s debates and problems, while also establishing their importance to many other areas of inquiry across disciplines\u201d (3). A truly interdisciplinary work, this text provides the reader with various viewpoints and ways of addressing disability throughout many fields, with the authors asserting that \u201cdisability has become a remarkably heterogeneous category\u201d (3).<\/p>\n Contributing authors include scholars such as Lennard J. Davis, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Michael B\u00e9rub\u00e9, and Robert McRuer. With such a wide variety of concepts, the\u00a0text could have\u00a0become overwhelming, but Keywords for Disability Studies <\/em>breaks down and refocuses many concepts that scholars might already be\u00a0familiar with into easily-understood and tangible notions. Some authors provide helpful background information on various\u00a0concepts, others apply them\u00a0to specific case studies, with\u00a0all contributors\u00a0offering useful ways to rethink disability.<\/p>\n The first essay, written by the editors, focuses on the keyword \u201cdisability\u201d,\u00a0demonstrating how the concept has changed throughout history and that it \u201cis more fluid than most other forms of identity in that it can potentially happen to anyone at any time\u201d (5). The\u00a0authors\u00a0conclude, \u201cthe meanings of disability and the words we use to describe its various manifestations will no doubt undergo profound shifts as a category of identity; a social, legal, and medical designation; and an embodied condition\u201d (11). Adams, Reiss, and Serlin provide a valuable introduction and essay, and although they state that disability \u201cis more fluid\u201d than other identities, they are still able to define it and discuss it as a coherent concept.<\/p>\n Another entry that was especially effective, and one that builds to some extent\u00a0on the earlier\u00a0\u201cdisability\u201d essay, is Lennard J. Davis\u2019 piece\u00a0on \u201cdiversity\u201d. Davis is quick to argue that disability is omitted from\u00a0conversations on\u00a0diversity, and explores this \u201cstructural\u201d problem. He asserts that \u201cdiversity as an ideological paradigm is structurally related to the goals of neoliberalism\u201d (63), and as a result\u00a0\u201cdiversity must never be allowed to undermine the basic tenets of free choice and the screen of empowerment that conceals the lack of choice and the powerlessness of most people\u201d (63-4). Davis acknowledges that disability studies attempt to classify disability as a \u201creal identity\u201d and many of the essays included in this text argue from a similar viewpoint, noting the troublesome path in achieving this classification.<\/p>\n Keywords for Disability Studies<\/em> also has resources on a separate webpage with\u00a0suggestions on\u00a0how to incorporate the essays into a classroom setting. Not only would this be helpful for those\u00a0planning to teach disability studies, but it also has the potential to lend a refreshing\u00a0approach to nearly any text read in a classroom setting, regardless of content.\u00a0Keywords for Disability Studies<\/em> is also helpful for scholars who plan to focus on disability studies or diversity more broadly, as there are many concepts which cross over into other disciplines.<\/p>\n