Call for Papers: Disability Studies Quarterly issue on technology

Submission deadline: December 1, 2004
Guest Editors: Gerard Goggin, Ph.D., University of Queensland, Australia and Christopher Newell, Ph.D., University of Tasmania, Australia

Whether in the home, at work or leisure, technology plays an important role in the lives of people with disabilities, and also in the way that disability is conceived, experienced, and framed in society.

A wide range of technologies are adopted, consumed, and used by people with disabilities in unexpected and innovative ways. There are many contests over the meaning and implications of technology, as, for instance, in the case of the 'bionic ear'. There are also specific cultural and social codings of technology/disability that remain little recognized and examined, and political and economic discourses that have been little studied. For instance, disability is often invoked as a warrant for development of new technologies, from biotechnology to information and communication technologies, and 'smart homes' - yet these technologies often create new forms of exclusion for people with disabilities.

In this special issue of Disability Studies Quarterly, we wish to provide a timely, interdisciplinary reconsideration of the connections between technology and disability. Rather than providing publicity, news, or reviews of new technologies or equipment, the issue seeks to investigate the deeper yet still neglected social, cultural, and disability rights aspects of technology and people with disabilities.

In this light, we welcome submissions on topics such as (but not restricted to):

• histories of disability and technology
• case studies and re-examinations of 'classic' disability technologies, such as the wheelchair, prosthesis, hearing aid, and so on
• case studies of 'new' technologies, including digital technologies, communication and media technologies, biotechnologies, 'smart home', medical technologies, and cochlear implant
• theoretical investigations regarding disability and technology (for instance: how do theories of technology/disability interact with other theories of technology, whether Heideggerian, social shaping of technology, materialist, actor-network theory, feminist, and so on)
• analyses of technology policy and practice
• studies of disability and technology design.

To submit papers:

Potential contributors are encouraged to familiarize themselves with previous issues of Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ), and to discuss their ideas with the Guest Editors, Gerard Goggin or Christopher Newell.

Contact information:

Gerard Goggin, Ph.D., Centre for Critical and Cultural Studies, University of Queensland, Australia.
Email: g.goggin@mailbox.uq.edu.au

Christopher Newell, Ph.D., School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Australia.
Email: Christopher.Newell@utas.edu.au

If you would like to submit a paper to the journal, please prepare your manuscript in accordance with the DSQ style guide, and send an electronic copy of manuscript to the guest editors at the above addresses.

To submit papers on disk, mail to:
Christopher Newell, Ph.D.,
Medical Education Unit
School of Medicine,
University of Tasmania,
Private Bag 99
Hobart, Tasmania,7001
Australia.

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