The conference is organised in the context of the annual meeting of Alter - European Society for Disability Research / Société Européenne de Recherche sur le Handicap. Its goal is to offer a European and international multidisciplinary view of disability research, across its whole spectrum, addressing sociohistorical and political dimensions as well as the subjective experiences of the actors concerned (disabled persons themselves and those close to them, professionals of the field and other social and political actors), but also considering disability as a category of analysis likely to shed light on the modes of organisation of contemporary societies.

Argument

The conference is organised in the context of the annual meeting of Alter - European Society for Disability Research / Société Européenne de Recherche sur le Handicap. Its goal is to offer a European and international multidisciplinary view of disability research, across its whole spectrum, addressing sociohistorical and political dimensions as well as the subjective experiences of the actors concerned (disabled persons themselves and those close to them, professionals of the field and other social and political actors), but also considering disability as a category of analysis likely to shed light on the modes of organisation of contemporary societies.

Main themes

The 2015 theme of the conference « Questioning contemporary societies through the lens of disability » invites papers reflecting theoretical and empirical research andinnovative work on disability studies addressing topics that include (but are not limited to) the following : 

• Politics of disability and disability as a political issue
• Mobilising law and the rights of persons with disabilities
• Theoretical and conceptual innovations on disability studies
• Participatory research methods and applied research
• Disability and work : inability, activation, employability...
• The politics of inclusive education
• Emerging professions in the field of disability and vulnerability
• Gender, sexuality, reproduction, parentality and embodied experiences
• Disability, discrimination and intersectionality
• Literary, media, film, scenic and aesthetic representations of disability

Languages of the conference 

Papers can be presented in English, French and/or Sign Language. 

Submission of an abstract

The deadline for submitting abstracts is :

28 February 2015.

Abstracts should be submitted online on the conference page ("Submit" tab)

If needed they may be sent by email to: 4th.Alter.conference@gmail.com

Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words (Times New Roman, 12 points), in English and, if possible, also in French. They should detail the topic of the paper (issue addressed, type of data used, type of data collection and analysis, main bibliographical references).

The abstract header must include :

• title of the paper

• first and last names and affiliation of the author(s)

• email address of the contact author

• language of the presentation (English, French, Sign Language).

Notification of the acceptance of the papers will be sent to the contact author by mid-april 2015. 

Submission of a proposal of a session

Proposals for organizing whole sessions of four presentations are also accepted.

Deadline for submission is :

28 February 2015

Session proposals must include:

• title of the session

• first and last names and affiliation of the person proposing the session

• email address of the person proposing the session

• abstract of the session in English and, if possible, also in French (300 words maximum)

• abstract in English and, if possible, also in French of each of the four papers included in the session, following the abstract format described above.

Notification of the acceptance of the session proposals will be sent to the contact author by mid-april 2015.

Scientific committee 

• Lucia de Anna, *University of Rome "Foro Italico", Italy
• Louis Bertrand*, National Institute of Health and Medical research, Villejuif, France
• Paula Campos-Pinto*, ISCSP, University of Lisbon, Portugal
• Jean-Sébastien Eideliman*, University of Lille3, France
• Anders Gustavsson*, University of Stockholm, Sweden
• Antonello Mura, *University of Cagliari, Italy
• Eric Plaisance, *Paris Descartes University, France**
• Erik Samoy*, Flemish Government, Department of Work,Belgium
• Pieter Verstraete*, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
• Isabelle Ville*, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences <http://www.uneecc.org/htmls/ehess__school_for_advanced_studies_in_the_social_sciences.html>, Paris, France**
• Myriam Winance*, National Institute of Health and Medical research, Villejuif, France