The Ugly Laws

"This cultural history is a revelation, rich with insights that let us ponder our own encounters with disability and the categories we make.- The Cleveland Plain Dealer "Schweik draws on a deep index of resources, from legal proceedings to out-of-print books, to tell the story of individuals long lost to history." Publishers Weekly "What is ugliness, and how ugly is too ugly? Perverse though such discrimination might seem today, Schweik suggests that re-examining such laws 'might prove very useful as a way of foregrounding the inevitable ambiguity of the category of 'disability'." The Chronicle Review "The Ugly Laws is a focused and deeply mined interrogation of a familiar cultural figure - the unsightly beggar - that has not until now been critically examined. Schweik is a virtuosa of both close reading and the big picture, merging historical scholarship with analysis of the discursive elaboration and cultural work of the unsightly beggar figure. The Ugly Laws is an essential text." Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, author of Extraordinary Bodies "Schweik uses 'unsightly beggar' laws in American cities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to explore fundamental questions about disability, race, gender, and class in new and often startling ways. The book is beautifully written, delightfully thought-provoking, and deeply researched. It is quite honestly the best work of scholarship I have read in a long time" Douglas C. Baynton, author of Forbidden Signs "Thoughtful, comprehensive, insightful, readable, and full of interesting characters and colourful digressions, The Ugly Laws is an admirable piece of scholarship and a significant contribution to the literature." Robert L. Burgdorf Jr., David A. Clarke School of Law, and the author of the original version of the Americans with Disabilities Act "Schweik delivers a compelling and insightful examination of disability norms, municipal law, and American culture... She gives voice to the fascinating stories of the unsightly, the alienated, and the excluded. A valuable contribution for anyone interested in disability theory, poverty law and policy, and social history. - Paul Steven Miller, Director, Disability Studies Program, University of Washington