Ebook: Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities: National and International Perspectives

Social inclusion is often used interchangeably with the terms social cohesion, social integration, and social participation, positioning social exclusion as the opposite. The latter is a contested term that refers to a wide range of phenomena and processes related to poverty and deprivation, but it is also used in relation to marginalized people and places. This book consists of two parts: the first aims to review the domestic and international historical roots and the conceptual base of disability, as well as the expressions of social exclusion of people with disabilities that interfere in their efforts to exercise their rights in society. It offers a comprehensive review of social and legal approaches to social exclusion and inclusion. The second part introduces and analyzes domestic and international social and legal strategies to promote social inclusion for people with disabilities. The closing chapter highlights the role of morality, law, science, and media and technology in achieving inclusion.

Arie Rimmerman is Richard Crossman Professor of Social Welfare and Social Planning and former Dean of Social Welfare and Health Sciences and Head of School of Social Work at the University of Haifa, Israel. He is an internationally well-known researcher in social policy and disability who has lectured at several universities in the United States and Europe, including the University of Pennsylvania, Syracuse University and Charles University, Prague. He has published seven books and hundreds of peer reviewed articles and research reports in Israel, the United States, Europe and Australia. He has served as an advisor to ministers of labour and welfare in Israel and public committees on disabilities in Israel, Europe and the United States. He is the recipient of the Lehman Award (1987), the William Trump Award (1998), the International Award of the American Association on Mental Retardation (1999) and the Burton Blatt Leadership Award (2006).