Table Of Content‘Disability concerns us all – and this nuanced, rigorous, timely account
chartsforthefirsttimethepoliticsofdisabilityadvocacyandnewmedia.
Essentialreading.’
GerardGoggin,UniversityofSydney,Australia
‘Trevisanhasproducedapersuasive,empirically-richstudythatmakesan
importantcontributiontohowweunderstandthecontemporarydisability
rights movement, not just in the UK, but around the world. This study
illuminatestheroleofsocialmediainformulatingandadvancingarights-
basedpolicyagenda,andhowtheInternetcanbeusedtocombatthestigma
sometimes still surrounding persons with disabilities. The result is a fas-
cinatingreadfordisabilityexperts,butalsomorebroadlyforscholarsof
progressivepoliticalmovements.’
DerrickL.Cogburn,SchoolofInternationalService,
AmericanUniversity,USA
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Disability Rights Advocacy Online
Disability rights advocates in the United Kingdom and the United States
recentlyembracednewmediatechnologiesinunexpectedandinnovative
ways. Thisbook shedslightonthisprocessofrenewalandaskswhether
the digitalisation of disability rights advocacy can help re-configure
political participation into a more inclusive experience for disabled
Internetusers,enhancingtheirstakesindemocraticcitizenship.Through
the examination of social media content, Web link analysis, and inter-
views with leading figures in grassroots groups on both sides of the
Atlantic, Filippo Trevisan reveals the profound impact that the Internet
has had on disability advocacy in the wake of the austerity agenda that
followed the 2008 global financial crisis. In Britain, a new, tech-savvy
generation of young disabled self-advocates has emerged from this
process. The role of social media platforms such as Facebook in helping
politically inexperienced users make sense of complex policy changes
through the use of personal stories is discussed also. In addition, this
book explains why British disability advocates adopted more innovative
and participatory strategies compared to their American counterparts
whenfacedwithsimilarpolicycrises.Thisbookreviewstheimplications
of this unexpected digital transformation for the structure of the dis-
ability rights movement, its leadership, and the opportunity for disabled
citizenstoparticipatefullyindemocraticpoliticsvis-a`-vispersistingWeb
accessandaccessibilitybarriers.Anoriginalperspectiveontherelationship
betweendisabilityandtheInternet,andanindispensablereadforscholars
wishing to contextualize and enrich their knowledge on digital disability
rights campaigns in the broader ecology of policy-making.
FilippoTrevisanisAssistantProfessorintheSchoolofCommunicationat
American University in Washington, DC, where he is also Deputy
Director of the Institute on Disability and Public Policy. His research
interests include new media technologies, political participation, grass-
roots advocacy, disability and inequality.
Routledge Studies in Global Information,
Politics and Society
Edited by Kenneth Rogerson, Duke University and
Laura Roselle, Elon University
International communication encompasses everything from one-to-one
cross-culturalinteractionstotheglobalreachofabroadrangeofinforma-
tionandcommunicationstechnologiesandprocesses.RoutledgeStudiesin
Global Information, Politics and Society celebrates – and embraces – this
depth and breadth. To completely understand communication, it must be
studiedinconcertwithmanyfactors,since,mostoften,itisthefoundational
principleonwhichothersubjectsrest.Thisseriesprovidesapublishingspace
for scholarship in the expansive, yet intersecting, categories of communi-
cationandinformationprocessesandotherdisciplines.
The Power of Information Networks
New Directions for Agenda Setting
Edited by Lei Guo and Maxwell McCombs
Television News and Human Rights in the US & UK
The Violations Will Not Be Televised
Shawna M. Brandle
Beyond the Internet
Unplugging the Protest Movement Wave
Edited by Rita Figueiras and Paula do Espı´rito Santo
Twitter and Elections Around the World
Campaigning in 140 Characters or Less
Edited by Richard Davis, Christina Holtz-Bacha, and Marion Just
Political Communication in Real Time
Theoretical and Applied Research Approaches
Edited by Dan Schill, Rita Kirk, and Amy Jasperson
Disability Rights Advocacy Online
Voice, Empowerment and Global Connectivity
Filippo Trevisan
Disability Rights Advocacy
Online
Voice, Empowerment and Global
Connectivity
Filippo Trevisan
Firstpublished2017
byRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
andbyRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninforma
business
©2017Taylor&Francis
TherightofFilippoTrevisantobeidentifiedasauthorofthiswork
hasbeenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78of
theCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedor
reproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,
mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,
includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformation
storageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe
publishers.
Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarks
orregisteredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationand
explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Names:Trevisan,Filippo,author.
Title:Disabilityrightsadvocacyonline:voice,empowermentand
globalconnectivity/FilippoTrevisan.
Description:NewYork,NY:Routledge,2017.|Series:Routledge
studiesinglobalinformation,politicsandsociety;13|Includes
bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2016018726|ISBN9781138847828(hbk)|
ISBN9781315726489(ebk)
Subjects:LCSH:Peoplewithdisabilities–Civilrights–GreatBritain.|
Peoplewithdisabilities–Civilrights–UnitedStates.|Social
advocacy–GreatBritain.|Socialadvocacy–UnitedStates.|Internet
andactivism–GreatBritain.|Internetandactivism–UnitedStates.
Classification:LCCHV1559.G6T742017|DDC323.3–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2016018726
ISBN:978-1-138-84782-8(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-72648-9(ebk)
TypesetinSabon
bySunriseSettingLtd.,Brixham,UK
For my parents,
Anna and Milvio
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Contents
List of Figures x
List of Tables xi
Series Editor’s Foreword xiii
Acknowledgements xiv
List of Abbreviations xvi
Introduction 1
1 Disabled People, Citizenship and New Media 9
2 Online Mobilisation in Times of Crisis 48
3 Keep Calm and Tweet On: British Disability Advocacy
Goes Digital 81
4 Policy Issues and Storytelling on Facebook 119
5 Communication Flows, Leadership and The Emergence
of ‘Peer-Mediated’ Citizenship 150
6 One Size Fits All? British Innovators and
American ‘Conservatives’ 180
7 New Directions in Disability Rights Advocacy 218
Appendix A: Semi-Structured Interview Guide
236
Appendix B: Online Media Inventory Matrix
238
Appendix C: Facebook Content Coding Frame
240
Index
244
Description:Disability rights advocates in the United Kingdom and the United States recently embraced new media technologies in unexpected and innovative ways. This book sheds light on this process of renewal and asks whether the digitalisation of disability rights advocacy can help re-configure political parti
