Disability in the Middle East
A Bibliography Comprising Materials with Technical, Cultural and Historical Relevance to Child and Adult Disabilities, Special Needs, Social and Educational Responses and Rehabilitation
Compiled, introduced and annotated by M. Miles
West Midlands, UK
m99miles@hotmail.com
For a list of abbreviations used in this document, consult the glossary.
General Introduction
This lightly annotated bibliography now listing c. 1,060 items, aims to record cumulatively the relevant formal knowledge base in the disability field in countries of the Middle East, especially Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and some smaller neighbours. It is hoped that it will eventually include more material in Middle Eastern languages, also more from governments and NGOs. The "technical, cultural and historical relevance" of the sub–title is understood to extend broadly through disability in connection with Middle Eastern infant care and nutrition, child rearing and developmental norms, children's health and education, gender differentiation, mental health care, employment, some medical, psychological and legal studies, disability prevention, and allied fields of practice and study. The original focus (five years ago) was on childhood disability in the Levant; but this has been much extended for cultural and historical reasons, and many items on adult and elderly disability are included. Materials from outside the Middle East, while possibly having relevance, are not listed unless available in Middle Eastern languages or adapted for regional cultures. Very few magazine or newspaper articles appear. Some limits have been placed on biomedical coverage, because most such items are already accessible with abstracts on Medline via the internet.
Geography & Politics
No single historically and politically agreed term designates the area approximately from Istanbul and Alexandria in the west, to the coast of Yemen and Oman and the eastern border of Iran. The term ‘Middle East’ gives a broad idea, and it includes people with many cultural similarities and differences and much shared history of civilisation and conflict. (Some 600 items from Afghanistan and Pakistan may be included in a future version). Disability crosses all frontiers, and ‘disability politics’ is about re–organising societies in ways that enable more people to participate in society with whatever sort of body and mind they have, irrespective of their nationality, culture, religion, or the historical actions of governments. In the present bibliography, no political or religious position is intended or implied by the inclusion of any material.
History
Some older listed items might, at first glance, seem to contribute little to knowledge of the current situation; yet they serve to show fields of professional interest and the rate and direction of their growth during the period 1970 to 2002 under various influences. Some 30% of the bibliography, listed in the last two sections with a brief introduction, comprises more distant historical material of the Middle East from 1750 to 1970, and from Antiquity to 1750, as an essential and fascinating part of the cultural background. This earlier material has more annotation, to enable potential readers to find the disability–related parts that are sometimes hidden in odd corners or footnotes. These dates and periods are not chosen to correspond with any political events, since battles and change of rulers seldom make much difference to the ‘world of disability’. They are chosen intuitively to correspond with an idea of historical movements in knowledge.
Flaws & Apologies
The publication status and original language of some items is uncertain. An ‘inclusive’ approach has been taken. The bibliography is circulated as a working tool, with apologies for any errors, for the absence of Arabic, Persian and Turkish scripts, and for other linguistic flaws. Transliteration of Arabic, Turkish and Persian names and titles in English has not been standardised, as authors and publishers have followed many different practices. For the present Internet version, many accents and diacritical marks have been omitted, as they still tend to be misrepresented either by the available coding systems or by screen software.
Names preceded by Al– or El– are indexed by the proper name following. Those prefixed with Abu–, Bin, Ibn etc., are indexed as such. All dates are ‘CE,’ i.e. refer to the Common Era or Christian calendar, with apologies to those who would have preferred other calendars to be represented.
Where an author's first name could be ascertained, it has been given in full in the first of any list of that author's works, whether or not it actually appeared as such in the original publication.
Details of further relevant materials will be welcomed by the compiler, and notice of any errors found in the list. The material may be freely copied for individual or institutional use, but not for commercial purposes.
Acknowledgements
Additions to the bibliography have kindly been suggested at different times by: F. Albrecht, M. Bosman, J. Carey, L. Conrad, G. Malki, H. Payne with Healthlink Worldwide Database, M. Plackett (Royal National Institute for Deaf People), K. Stuckey (formerly of Hayes Research Library, Perkins School for the Blind) and M. Turmusani. Further debts in the historical section are acknowledged in the annotations. Some materials have been found in University libraries at Birmingham, Bristol, London, Oxford and Warwick, the British Library, the Royal National Institute for the Blind, the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, Selly Oak Colleges, and the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine. Web catalogues and databases of universities in Egypt, Iran, Lebanon and Turkey, as well as CIRRIE, Copac and the U.S. Library of Congress and National Libraries of Medicine have also been accessed. Data has been cross–checked by Google searches of sites too numerous to mention. I am most grateful for information from these resources.
Version 3.10, 24 July 2002
Copyright © 2002 M. Miles / CIRRIE
All materials may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes to advance educational or scientific research.
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