Working futures?

Dr Alan Roulstone is Director of Research in Social and Health Sciences and Reader in Disability Studies at the University of Sunderland. He has published widely on disability and employment policy and has significant experience of researching disability in institutional contexts. Alan identifies as a disabled person and has close links with the UK disabled peoples' movement.Professor Colin Barnes is Director of the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds. Colin has written extensively on disability and policy issues and is author of the seminal Disabled people in Britain and discrimination. He is a disabled person who has done much to transform social model ideas on disability into a reality.

• Introduction; Part One: Work, welfare and social inclusion: challenges, concepts and questions: The challenges of a work-first agenda for disabled people ~ Alan Roulstone and Colin Barnes; The missing million: the challenges of employing more disabled people ~ Kate Stanley; Part Two: The current policy environment: New Deal for Disabled People: what's new about New Deal? ~ Bruce Stafford; Disabled people, employment and the Work preparation programme ~ Sheila Riddell and Pauline Banks; Legislating for equality: evaluating the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ~ Nigel Meager and Jennifer Hurtsfield; Disability frameworks and monitoring disability in local authorities: a challenge for the proposed Draft Disability Discrimination Bill ~ Ardha Danieli and Carol Woodhams; Job retention: a new policy priority for disabled people ~ Geof Mercer; Benefits and tax credits: enabling systems or constraints? ~ Anne Corden; Challenging the disability benefit trap across the OECD ~ Mark Pearson and Christopher Prinz; Jobcentre Plus: can specialised personal advisors be justified? ~ Patricia Thornton; Disability and employment: global and national policy influences in New Zealand, Canada and Australia ~ Neil Lunt; Disabled people and 'employment' in the majority world: policies and realities ~ Peter Coleridge; Part Three: Towards inclusive policy futures: Employment policy and practice: a perspective from the disabled peoples' movement ~ David Gibbs; Changing minds: opening up employment options for people with mental health problems ~ Jennifer Secker and Bob Grove; Enabling futures for people with learning difficulties? Exploring the employment realities behind the policy rhetoric? ~ Danny Goodley and Ghashem Norouzi; Barriers to labour market participation: the experience of Deaf and hard of hearing people ~ Jennifer Harris and Patricia Thornton; Work matters: visual impairment, disabling barriers and employment options ~ Phillipa Simkiss; Disabled people and employment: the potential impact of European policy ~ Hannah Morgan; Missing pieces: the voluntary sector and community sector's potential for inclusive employment ~ Lorraine Gradwell; Professional barriers and facilitators: policy issues for an enabled salariat ~ Bob Sapey and Jeannine Hughes; Disabled people, the state and employment: historical lessons and welfare policy ~ Jon Warren; 'Work' is a four-letter word: disability, work and welfare ~ Colin Barnes and Alan Roulstone; Conclusions.

"This collection of academic research, review and policy papers maps out attitudes of governments and employers towards disabled people, and puts these in both a historical and global context ... Alongside the critiques, there are positive suggestions as to how to redefine disability, impairment and the notion of work itself, alongside ideas for restructuring disabled people's involvement in decision-making and in society at large. ... This is essential for anyone involved in disability policy-making, human resources, supported employment or day services." Community Care