Influence of Steven J. Taylor on Disabled Lives and Disability Studies

Rannveig Traustadóttir is Professor Emerita and Director of the Center for Disability Studies, University of Iceland. Being one of the early pioneers of feminist disability studies, much of her interdisciplinary research has examined the intersection of disability, gender, and other relations of power. Rannveig was a founding member of NNDR, Nordic Network on Disability Research, and has been instrumental in developing Disability Studies as an academic field in the Nordic countries.Nirmala Erevelles is Professor of Social and Cultural Studies in Education at the University of Alabama. Her interests lie in the areas of disability studies, critical race theory, transnational feminism, sociology of education, and postcolonial studies. the University of Alabama Erevelles was awarded the Nelly Rose McCrory Faculty Excellence Award for Exemplary Research (2015) and President’s Research Award (2016), as well as the Senior Scholar Award by the Society of Disability Studies (2017).Zana Marie Lutfiyya is Professor Emerita, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba. Her work has focused on the factors that help or hinder the social participation of individuals with primarily intellectual and developmental disabilities into community life. Zana was instrumental in establishing the master’s degree program in Disability Studies at the University of Manitoba, serving as its founding co-director.Rachael A. Zubal-Ruggieri is a long-time employee at Syracuse University. While working at the Center on Human Policy and other programs, her broad-based support for multiple disability rights initiatives has served to improve the lives of people with disabilities. For many years she has written and presented on disability, comic books, and popular culture, as well as disability rights and identities as a neurodivergent parent to an Autistic son.Michael F. Giangreco is a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Special Education at the University of Vermont. His work focuses on educating students with developmental disabilities within general education classrooms through curriculum planning, support services decision-making and coordination, alternatives to overreliance on paraprofessionals, and inclusive special education service delivery. In addition to numerous professional publications, Dr. Giangreco has created a cartoon collection, Absurdities and Realities of Special Education, lampooning the field of special education.Pamela M. Walker is retired from her role as a Research Associate at Syracuse University's Center on Human Policy (1985-2017) where she contributed to a range of projects investigating the life circumstances, needs, and supports for individuals with disabilities. The Association for Persons with Severe Disabilities (TASH) recognized her with the Thomas Haring Research Award (1999). She served as Managing Editor of the Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (1984-1986).

"This fascinating book is a fitting tribute to the contributions of Steve Taylor who was a seminal figure in the founding of disability studies and whose leadership of the Center on Human Policy at Syracuse University promoted the values of community and inclusion. Readers will gain important insights into the beginnings of disability studies as well as the ongoing struggle for disability rights and social justice."Lennard J. Davis, Distinguished Professor (Emeritus), College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, US“This collection of powerful and moving essays is testimony to the far-reaching legacy of Steve Taylor and his enduring influence on disability theory, research, practice, policy, and history. As such, it is essential reading to those interested in the development of Disability Studies.”Dr. David J. Connor, Professor Emeritus, Hunter College, City University of New York, US"This book demonstrates the impact Steve Taylor had, and continues to have on disability policy and practice. Combining reflections on deinstitutionalization, from theoretical frameworks to very applied work the book will give the reader, all in one place, an understanding of how theory and research can impact the lives of people with disabilities by demonstrating how to combine high quality research and policy analysis with real world applications. Students of disability policy have, in this one volume, the opportunity to understand the complexity of the disability studies field and pathways to demonstrating the contribution of scholarship to improving the human condition."Steven M. Eidelman, H. Rodney Sharp Professor of Human Services Policy and Leadership Emeritus, The University of Delaware, US"Steven Taylor’s presentation at the Nordic Conference on Intellectual Disabilities in the 1990s, was a great inspiration and point of departure for exchange between Nordic and North American researchers in the field. As clearly articulated in this volume, one of Taylor’s most important contributions was his in-depth understanding of everyday life with disabilities and his deep sense of dignity for all human beings."Anders Gustavsson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Education, Stockholm University, Sweden

• Introduction Part 1: The Life and Career of Steven J. Taylor 1.“A Conscientious Objector to Academic Indifference”: Reflections on the Career and Contributions of Steven J. Taylor Part 2: Deconstructing/Rethinking Disability 2.Rethinking Community as Praxis: Disability Studies and the Sociology of Acceptance 3.De[re]constructing Disability and Madness Through Steve Taylor: All the Posts, All the Pomes Part 3: Incarceration and Deinstitutionalization 4.Deinstitutionalization, Abolition, and the Unwinding Road to Freedom 5.Moving Out of Institutions for People with Intellectual Disabilities in the Nordic Countries Part 4: Disability Policy 6.Beyond the Least Restrictive Environment Continuum: Critiquing a Contemporary Concept in Historical Context 7.Bringing People Home: Disability Policy in Practice Part 5: Disability Studies 8.Steven J. Taylor and the Syracuse Legacy in Disability Studies 9.The Academic Origins of Disability Studies and the Society for Disability Studies: An Interview with Rosemarie Garland-Thomson Part 6: Conclusion & Future Directions 10.Belonging, Dignity, and Justice: Lessons from Steven J. Taylor Appendix