Book Review

Schillmeier’s book contains three un/equal parts. The slash is neces-sary here, for the unequality of the parts applies more to the length and the mission that the author intends for each part of the book than the quality of his work. All three parts of the book fit together rather nicely, supporting each other. The first part of the book is designed as a theoretical ‘introduction ’ to the problem of disability, the elabora-tion and elucidation of selected theoretical frameworks, and the depiction of the historical background, above all the culture of ancient Greece that greatly influenced even the contemporary under-standing of disability. In addition, in the first part of the book, the author provides a short yet concise elaboration of the reasons for the historical shift from the pre-modern to the modern understanding of disability. The second, rather short part of the book is a dis/ability manifesto in which the author briefly, but nevertheless carefully, gives the reader an explanation of the major aims and purposes of his book. The last part of the book consists of three chapters of text fol-lowed by an additional chapter in which Schillmeier provides several concluding remarks and tries to make his profound theoretical find-ings from the first part more ‘empirical ’ in nature. It is safe to assume that the book is written from the perspective of social constructivism, though the author uses the expression ‘social constructivism ’ only when he critically addresses the classical social constructivist approach. Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann’s (1966) ‘initial ’ theory of social constructivism can be criticized for various reasons, among which an evident lack of thorough an