Disability Protests: Contentious Politics, 1970-1999

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments There are many people and situations that contributed to the writing of this book. For the senior author, inspiration for researching this topic came from a seminar on Political Histories of Collective Action that she attended in 1992. Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), to which she expresses her gratitude, the seminar was conducted by Professor Sidney Tarrow and was attended by 11 other scholars interested in collective action. As a result of discussions that were held during that seminar, she shifted her research focus from one protest, which she wrote about in DeafPresident Now: The 1988 Revolution at Gallaudet University (Christiansen and Barnartt, 1995), to the more general topic of protests that were occurring in all parts of the disability community. It was in that seminar that she was first exposed to event history analysis, the research methodology used in this book. Although the research project and this resulting book were primarily unfunded, the senior author would like to acknowledge the financial assistance she did receive. In addition to the NEH Summer Fellowship, Gallaudet University provided a small research grant, a travel grant that permitted attendance at an international social movements conference, a sabbatical leave, and released time from teaching, all of which helped make completion ofthis project possible. The research grant permitted the hiring of several students to assist with the data collection for this book. Jilly Kowalsky helped with the early search for data about specific collective actions, and she suggested inclusion of some of the variables mentioned in this book. Marja Abenchuchan also assisted with data entry. There were several colleagues whose assistance, help, and support were invaluable . Barbara Altman is primary among these; without her constant guidance, advice, and support, this book would not have happened. Others who have listened, made suggestions, contributed help or information, or read and commented on parts of drafts include Margaret Weigers, John Christiansen, Bonnie Gracer, Gary Smith, Spencer Goldstein, David Rosenblum, MaryJohnson, and David Oaks. Finally, both anonymous and known reviewers and editors made valuable suggestions. We thank all of those people, but of course we take responsibility for any errors. vii We want our rights, and we don't care how. We want a rev-o-Iu-tion ... Nnnnnnooooowwwwwww (shouted) - Peter Weiss, The Persecution andAssassination ofJean PaulMarat as Performed by the Inmates ofCharenton under the Direction ofthe Marquis de Sade (lyrics by Adrian Mitchell) I rebel, therefore we exist. - Albert Camus, The Rebel ...