Routledge Disability and Shopping: Customers, Markets and the State (Routledge Advances in Disability Studies)

Disability and Shopping:Customers, Markets and the State provides an examination of the diverse experiences and perspectives of disabled customers, industry and civil society. It discusses how the interaction between the three stakeholders should be shaped at aiming to decrease inequality and marginalisation. Shopping is a part of everyday modern life and yet businesses struggle to adequately meet the needs of 80 million disabled customers in the European Union single market. While there has been extensive research into how individuals engage in customer roles and experience, and how businesses and policies both shape and respond to these, little is known of the same dynamics and practices regarding people with impairments. This book addresses this need by revealing the perspectives, interactions and experiences of disabled customers and their interaction with policy and business. It will be required reading for all scholars and students of disability studies, sociology, marketing and customer relations. Review 'The ethnographic research that inspires this book is both original and innovative, providing fascinating insights into the world of shopping and everyday technologies from a disability perspective. What makes it so interesting is the way the analysis connects these everyday experiences with deep understandings of citizenship, public policy and power relations in capitalist market economies. It succeeds equally in its theoretical and empirical ambitions.' - Professor Mark Priestley, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, UK 'This is an interesting and innovative book addressing an under-researched area. The use of multiple research methodologies provides depth to the research, as does the focus on the European Union as well as the United Kingdom and Lithuania. The findings of this book are highly topical in light of the imminent adoption of the European Accessibility Act by the European Union.' - Professor Lisa Waddington, European Disability Forum Chair in European Disability Law, Maastricht University (NLs) 'Envisioning a citizen with disabilities as an active market actor and consumer is a vital part of the disability rights paradigm because we spend most of our lives enmeshed in a web of market-based transactions. Shaping these markets to ensure equal access for all is not only good for citizens but also for business. This pioneering book is a must-read for those interested in the economic empowerment of the estimated 1 billion consumers with disabilities in the world.' - Gerard Quinn, Wallenberg Chair, Raoul Wallenberg Institute (Lund University) & Professor, Leeds University. About the Author Ieva Eskytė is post-doctoral research fellow in the School of Law at the University of Leeds, UK.