Colin Barnes is Professor of Disability Studies in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds and Visiting Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Halmstad, SwedenGeof Mercer is a former Reader in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds.

• AcknowledgementsPreface to the Second EditionChapter 1. Introduction: Analysing DisabilityChapter 2. Competing Models and ApproachesChapter 3. Sociological Approaches to Chronic Illness and DisabilityChapter 4. Theories of DisabilityChapter 5. Social Exclusion and Disabling BarriersChapter 6. Routes to Independent LivingChapter 7. Politics and Disability PoliticsChapter 8. Culture, the Media and IdentityChapter 9. Disability and the Right to LifeChapter 10. Disability and Development: Global Perspectives Bibliography

"The key debates around disability are given a thorough airing in this revised edition of a widely used text"Times Educational Supplement "If students and teachers want one resource to assist in their exploration of disability studies, then this is it. It's up-to-date, comprehensive and coherent, outlining the key themes and issues in a readable way. No-one studying disability on an undergraduate, postgraduate or professional training course should be without it."Mike Oliver, Emeritus Professor, University of Greenwich"Exploring Disability is an important, up-to-date, critical and wide-ranging review of key issues that situates the debates and discussion within the growing literature on disability. Exploring Disability should be on the reading lists of many disability studies courses providing as it does the broad overview of where both the discipline and the movement are today. It is a must for academics, policy makers, researchers, and the disability movement."Marcia Rioux, York Institute for Health Research, Toronto