Main description:

Created during and after the Second World War, the British Welfare State seemed to promise welfare for all, but, in its original form, excluded millions of disabled people. This book examines attempts in the subsequent three decades to reverse this exclusion. It is the first to contextualise disability historically in the welfare state and under each government of the period. It looks at how disability policy and perceptions were slow to change as a welfare issue, which is very timely in today's Austerity climate. It also provides the first major analysis of the Disablement Income Group, one of the most powerful pressure groups in the period and the 1972 Thalidomide campaign and its effect on the Heath government. Given the recent emergence of the history of disability in Britain as a major area of research, the book will be ideal for scholars, students and activists seeking a better understanding of the topic.

Contents:

I Introduction II From Exclusion to Inclusion? III Seeds of Change, 1948-1963 IV The Emergence of the General Classes, 1964-1969 V 'Cinderella of the Welfare State,' 1970-1972 VI The Final Days: Disability at the end of the Welfare State, 1973-1976 VII Conclusion