Disability Servitude tells the history of the end of peonage in American institutions for people with intellectual disabilities. ... a welcome addition to the field of disability studies, treading the line between advocacy and balanced critique with great skill. ... strength of this volume is that it takes a hitherto underexplored area of disability policy and shows how central it ... Read moreis to our understanding of the place of disabled people in contemporary American history. In this sense, it is invaluable. (Gareth Millward, H-Net Disability, h-net.org, May, 2017) This book is to provide a historical review of how a system of legally imposed economic impoverishment has been, and remains, a cornerstone of our social practice of segregation and seclusion for this segment of our population. ... Beckwith presents a persuasive argument that an understanding of the history of unpaid, or barely paid, labor of people with intellectual disability is essential if we are to ever successfully support their integration into our communities as productive and valued citizens. (Philip M. Ferguson, Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, Vol. 41 (4), 2016) Show Less