Over the past 45 years, Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ) has both fostered and shaped the field of disability studies. Under the careful stewardship of more than 20 editors, the journal has given scholars a platform to draw attention to all the ways in which disability shapes life itself. Today, the journal has successfully brought disability studies to the fore, legitimizing the important work of scholars, activists, and artists who center disability in their work.
The impact of DSQ cannot be overstated:
- Since 1980, DSQ has published over 175 issues
- Since 1980, DSQ has featured hundreds of authors, artists, activists
- Since 2000, DSQ has published 1948 different articles, reviews, and creative works
The work of the DSQ editorial teams is immense. Securing peer reviewers, ensuring timely decisions, and working through a high volume of submissions is a feat. In the past, editors have been able to do this in part because of funding provided by the Society for Disability Studies. Previously, SDS raised funds through membership dues and conference fees. At this point in time, though, we do not accrue enough to fund the editorship. After discussing this issue with the current editors of DSQ and the Board of Directors of SDS, we’ve decided to reach out!
In recent years DSQ editors have faced a number of challenges head on. An overwhelming number of article submissions, paired with a lack of peer reviews, set against the dizzying backdrop of the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic posed high demands on the editors. While our current editors (Jeff Brune and Don Grushkin) have restored the journal to sustainability after a nine-month hiatus, it’s important that we maintain this momentum. We need to make sure that the next editor(s) can weather whatever storm may come. The best tool we can offer is proper funding.
Funding the editorship is especially important as we witness trusted institutions crumbling around the globe, seemingly all at once. In the wake of rising authoritarianism and eugenics, we want to make sure that intellectual spaces platforming disabled perspectives remain strong. To that end, we’re earnestly asking for your help.
What we’re asking:
- If you haven’t renewed your yearly membership dues yet, please do so on our Patreon.
- Please note you can also “gift” membership to a student through Patreon!
- This Giving Tuesday (Dec. 2), please make a donation through our PayPal account.
- Donations are tax deductible.
- If you’re on social media, please take a second to follow our accounts and boost our fundraising content. Feel free to write your own posts using the hashtags #Give2DSQ, #WhatDSQMeansToMe, or #SupportSDS
Your donations will go towards:
- Funding a paid editorship
- Paying staff contracts
- Providing accessibility services at events and conferences
- Paying for services for our website, Patreon, and video conferencing (Zoom) platforms
- Endowments for awards
We’ll be tracking fundraising throughout the month of December. Ideally, we’re hoping to hit $30,000 this month through our collective efforts. We know that’s a high goal to raise in just a month, but we’re a big community! While the SDS is made up of over 700 members, only about half are paid supporters. If every member contributed $20, we’d be almost halfway to reaching our fundraising goal!
After this initial push, we’ll periodically fundraise to ensure that the SDS builds a financial safety net. We think it’s worth it to strive for financial security so that we can support future DSQ editors and plan for the future of SDS. Together, we can make that vision a reality.
Stay tuned for more,
Sincerely,
The Society for Disability Studies Board of Directors
