This book provides an in-depth analysis of the social and spatial experiences of people with dwarfism, an impairment that results in a person being no taller than 4' 10". This book engages with the concept that dwarfism’s most prominent feature – body size and shape – can form the basis of social discrimination and disadvantages within society. By ignoring body size as a disability, it is hard to see the resulting disabling consequences of the built environment. Using a mixed-methods approach and drawing on the work undertaken by human geographers and disability studies academics, this book analyses how the relationship between harmful cultural stereotypes and space shapes everyday experiences of people with dwarfism and works to socially exclude them in diverse ways. Showing how spatial and social barriers are not mutually exclusive but can influence one another, this book responds to the limited academic work on the subject of dwarfism, whilst also contributing to the study of geographies of body size. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, human geography, the built environment, sociology and medical humanities.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the social and spatial experiences of people with dwarfism, an impairment that results in a person being no taller than 4' 10". This book engages with the concept that dwarfism’s most prominent feature – body size and shape – can form the basis of social discrimination and disadvantages within society. By ignoring body size as a disability, it is hard to see the resulting disabling consequences of the built environment. Using a mixed-methods approach and drawing on the work undertaken by human geographers and disability studies academics, this book analyses how the relationship between harmful cultural stereotypes and space shapes everyday experiences of people with dwarfism and works to socially exclude them in diverse ways. Showing how spatial and social barriers are not mutually exclusive but can influence one another, this book responds to the limited academic work on the subject of dwarfism, whilst also contributing to the study of geographies of body size. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, human geography, the built environment, sociology and medical humanities.

Disputing derogatory representations of dwarfism, this book opens up a new avenue for disability studies, encouraging advocacy and challenging able-bodied readers to re-examine their perceptions of this community.

Bringing together perspectives from academics, practitioners, campaigners, and activists, this book explores the victimology of disability hate crime (DHC). For the first time, this book brings together recent academic thought, the stance of those working for the United Nations to further the rights of disabled people, and a helpful toolkit on how to advance the status of the disabled victim of hate crime. Campaigners, support workers, and legal scholars present a tangential approach to revealing the plight of disabled victims and their associates. The book will reveal the expertise required to understand experiences of victimisation and how to help reconstruct the lives of those affected by this type of violence. Never before has a book produced such a nuanced and multidisciplinary approach to discussing disability hate crime. This volume will be useful not only for those academically interested in how disability hate crime is perpetrated but also for scholars who wish to study how to raise awareness and lobby for change. It is essential reading for those engaged with hate studies, victimology, disability, and vulnerable communities, as well as practitioners and campaigners.

There exist problematic attitudes and beliefs about dwarfism that have rarely been challenged, but continue to construct people with dwarfism as an inferior group within society. This book introduces the critical term ‘midgetism’, which the author has coined, to demonstrate that the socio-cultural discrimination people with dwarfism experience is influenced by both heightism and disablism. As a result, it unpacks and challenges the problematic social assumptions that reinforce midgetism within society, including the acceptability of ‘midget entertainment’ and ‘non-normate space’, to demonstrate how particular spaces can either aid in reinforcing or challenge midgetism. Drawing on the tripartite model of disability, this book demonstrates how midget entertainment is framed as a non-normative positivism, which makes it an acceptable form of employment. Using autocritical discourse analysis, the book exposes, examines and responds to excuses that are used to reinforce midgetism, thus critiquing the numerous beliefs influenced by cultural representations of dwarfism, such as people with dwarfism being acceptable figures of entertainment. It will be of interest to all scholars and students of disability studies, social history, sociology and cultural geography.

This book offers a critical discussion on the necessity for 'difficult conversations' to take place in education, drawing on studies from across the UK. The editors and contributors address three key questions: - How can 'difficult conversations' be theorised? - What transformations in thinking and practice can occur through 'difficult conversations'? - What value do 'difficult conversations' have in enabling understanding and compassion between the diverse communities of today? The chapters cover a range of topics including supporting children with SEND, parent and carer engagement, childhood trauma, race, disability, the climate emergency, and the researcher's positionality. The contributors draw on the theoretical work of bell hooks, Linda Alcoff, Paulo Freire, Victor Turner, Homi Bhabha, Nel Nodings, Melanie Nind, Emile Bojesen, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Mathew Lipman, and other contemporary theories. They argue against the prevailing deficit-based perspectives about marginalized communities and invite deep thinking about the nature of oppression experienced in many spheres of education and therefore in our society. Ultimately, the book advocates for the empowerment and agency of anyone facing social inequalities through engagement in 'difficult conversations' as a means of transformation and social change.

Examining how policy affects the human rights of people with disabilities, this topical Handbook presents diverse empirical experiences of disability policy and identifies the changes that are necessary to achieve social justice.