Like Everest: defamiliarization and uncanniness in media representations of inaccessibility

This paper uses phenomenology to explore recent representations of inaccessible architectural environment featured on major Bulgarian television channels. It is argued that by exposing the environmental restrictions faced by disabled people in their everyday activities, Bulgarian media unwittingly engage in an operation described by formalist literary critics as ‘defamiliarization’. As a result, familiar elements of the everyday, lived world are illuminated as strange. In phenomenological terms, this brings about the experience of ‘uncanniness’. The paper concludes by highlighting the transformative potential inherent in this experience; that is, its power to illuminate as artificial and oppressive the taken-for-granted aspects of the world we inhabit.     

基于细胞的生物传感器:用石英晶体微天平方法研究膜蛋白相互作用

在药物开发早期选择最优的候选目标物对于避免后期药物研发失败是至关重要的。Attana200细胞生物传感器能检测目标物在生物基质条件下的无标、全实时动力学情况,提供一个信息丰富的生物学相关的测量方法。细胞能在传感器表面生长,和传统传感器一样通过连续流引入相互作用的生物分子。该仪器还兼容标准生物传感器表面,而且可用于比较键合的纯化目标和相互作用的细胞。     

The education of Roma children in Romania: Description,difficulties, solutions

In this study the authors discuss the manner in which the Romanian educational system deals with (or fails to deal with) the integration of Roma children in public education. Various educational strategies are discussed that have been attempted in Romania and that could potentially assist the Roma in facing the challenges of the twenty-first century in Romania. We also present a case study focusing on one community that sheds light on the various issues that affect the integration process of Roma children. Our research into a local school shows for instance that there is much willingness on the part of Roma children to participate in mixed schools (Roma and non-Roma) but that there is much reluctance on the part of the majority children and their parents to accept the Roma as their equals.     

Institutional woes of participation: Bulgarian disabled people’s organisations and policy‐making

This paper presents a critical study of the participation of Bulgarian disabled people’s organisations in the policy‐making process on a national level. It describes how the ‘representatives’ of disabled Bulgarians become depoliticised and even depersonalised when their participation becomes institutionalised through the National Council on Integration of People with Disabilities. It is argued that such an instance of ‘participation’ actually sustains the status quo of underdevelopment and dependency. A parallel is drawn with the concerns of the British disability movement. The paper ends by suggesting some tentative solutions to the highlighted problems.     

Disability and social justice

This article explores the significance of disability for social justice, using Nancy Fraser’s theory of justice as a guideline. The article argues that the disability perspective is essential for understanding and promoting social justice, although it is often disregarded by critical thinkers and social activists. The article looks at three prominent strategies for achieving social justice under conditions of capitalism: economically, by decommodifying labour; culturally, by deconstructing self-sufficiency; and politically, by transnationalising democracy. The disability perspective reveals that decommodification of labour requires enhancement of disability support, deconstruction of self-sufficiency requires valorisation of disability-illuminated interdependence, and transnationalisation of democracy requires scrutiny of the transnational production of impairments. The article discusses each of these strategies in theoretical and practical terms by drawing on disability studies and Fraser’s analyses.     

Neoliberalism,postsocialism, disability

This paper discusses the impact of neoliberalism on disability policy and activism. The paper highlights the neoliberalisation of postsocialist disability policy, as well as the convergence between the neoliberal critique of welfare-state paternalism and the advocacy of disabled people’s movement for deinstitutionalisation and direct payments (personal assistance). The discussion is supported by examples from Bulgaria and the United Kingdom. In conclusion, the paper argues that neoliberalism confronts the disabled people’s movement with two difficult tasks: to defend self-determination while criticising market-based individualism, and to defend the welfare state while criticising expert-based paternalism.