Conversations about Activism and Change is a collection of eleven unique narratives from disabled people, offering their views on what makes a disability rights movement. It was a project that collected personal stories and marks the first attempt by disabled people and Independent Living Movement Ireland to create a historical document and a true disabled person’s history of the Irish disability movement.
This project was funded and supported by the late Declan O’Keeffe and Independent Living Movement Ireland.
Published by Martello Press
Foreword by Niall Crowley
Photography by John Owens
Edited by Sarah Fitzgerald
Available to purchase online from the following websites:
Dubray Books: https://www.dubraybooks.ie/product/conversations-about-activism-and-change-pb-9781739608606
Ennis Bookshop: https://www.ennisbookshop.ie/p/sarah-fitzgerald-conversations-about-activism-and-change/9781739608606
Amazon (paperback and Kindle): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conversations-About-Activism-Change-Independent-ebook/dp/B0C344X2YF
Also available in all good bookshops.
Reviews
“With the closure of so many DPOs, particularly during the austerity years imposed by many national governments, countless documents, photographs, videos, audio recordings, annual reports, minutes of meetings and recollections will have disappeared. I’d say the more books like Conversations About Activism and Change, the better.”
-Dr. Colin Cameron, Assistant Professor, Northumbria University Newcastle
“These are the stories of the disabled activists in their own words and illustrate not just their dedication to their cause, but also the very human aspect of their struggle, underscoring the importance of friendship in sustaining their activism.”
-Alan Tennyson
“An easy, enjoyable read, ‘Conversations About Activism and Change’ warns against activist complacency, rails against the multi-billion Euro disability industry and calls for Ireland to move away from the medical model of disability (seen as disempowering) and replace it with the social model (many of society’s barriers can and should be removed).”
-Allen Meagher, Changing Ireland
“This collection, edited by Sarah Fitzgerald, will, I’m sure, attract a wide readership among disabled people. However, it should also educate and inspire non-disabled people to support the ILMI in their continuing quest for change, respect and independence.”
-Colman Rushe
Remembering Selina Bonnie, who sadly passed in January 2024.
Sarah Fitzgerald 