From Editors: Reaching Identity—Experiencing and (Re)Defining Disability

Abstract

Disability is not just a term describing a certain state of affairs but also a notion, the understanding of which incorporates values and evaluations, hidden postulates, camouflaged labeling. In other words, the said notion is entangled in the world of senses and meanings that are polysemic, imprecise, and changeable regarding time and circumstances. Bearing this in mind, our goal while developing this publication was to reconstruct the individual and social understanding and perception of disability. Therefore, the issue includes articles devoted to such notions as: disability as a social construct, a process of reconstructing identity, transformation of social roles or the lifestyles, and activities undertaken by the disabled in various spheres and contexts.