The Disability Archive

There is little doubt that Disability Studies should be rooted in the work of disabled people and their organisations. An understanding of history is vital if we are to engage with the present and influence the future. But all too often we have little or no knowledge of the concerns and insights of those who went before.

The aim of the Disability Archive UK was established by Professor Colin Barnes to provide disabled people, students and scholars with an interest in this and related fields, access to the writings of those disability activists, writers and allies whose work may no longer be easily accessible in the public domain. It is hoped that the documents available via the Archive will help to inform current and future debates on disability and related issues.

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Conditions of use

Files and articles may be freely downloaded and reproduced in other formats for those without access to a computer.

However, files may NOT be downloaded and reproduced in any format for commercial purposes without the express permission of the author or authors concerned. Furthermore, files may not be transferred to any website that charges a fee for user access. Finally, the entire Disability Archive UK must not be linked to other websites as a mirror file for ease of local use without prior consultation with the archive administrator.

By entering the Archive you undertake to abide by these conditions.

Reading documents in the Archive

All the documents in the Archive are in PDF format. Some documents are also available in alterative formats (Rich Text Format, Microsoft Word and plain text).