Over the past 15 years, geography has made many significant contributions to our understanding of disabled people's identities, lives, and place in society and space. ‘Towards Enabling Geographies’ brings together leading scholars to showcase the ‘second wave’ of geographical studies concerned with disability and embodied differences. This area has broadened and challenged conventional boundaries of ‘disability’, expanding the kinds of embodied differences considered, while continuing to grapple with important challenges such as policy relevance and the use of more inclusionary research approaches. This book demonstrates the value of a spatial conceptualization of disability and disablement to a broader social science audience, whilst examining how this conceptualization can be further developed and refined.

This edited collection showcases some of the most innovative work currently being undertaken in the “second wave” of geographies of disability. Its engagement with other bodies of difference broadens and deepens our understanding of disability; emphasising the importance of spatially infused interpretations of embodiment and disability; the growing importance of technology in disabled people’s lives; and the ever important issues of policy and politics.’ Christine Milligan, Lancaster University, UK ‘The editors are to be congratulated on this rich and rewarding collection that reflects the place of disability as a deepening stream within geographical inquiry.’ Robin Kearns, The University of Auckland, New Zealand ‘This edited collection brings together a range of authors from within and beyond Geography to discuss research on the socio-spatial and embodies nature of disablement. It is a timely and much needed addition to the Geographies of Disability literature…I would recommend this collection to students and academics who want an overview of the current state of scholarship on Geographies of Disability from a critical/cultural perspective.’ Area ‘… this collection would certainly be a valuable and relevant resource for others working in the health and disability fields. As a health services researcher, I found the collection of research to be a very insightful introduction to the unique perspectives of geographers on the subject of disability…’ New Zealand Geographer