16: Feminist disability studies

Overview & Synopsis

This chapter discusses the trajectory and development of feminist disability studies. It points to its British and American roots while identifying important differences between the approaches to feminist disability studies in the UK and the US. Feminist disability studies is analyzed both as an academic and activist project and, equally important, its relationship to disability studies and the social model of disability. The chapter reviews some of the major criticisms of feminist disability studies, namely the lack of non-white, non-Western voices, and shows how the field has become more diverse. The chapter, however, does not focus solely on the genealogy of feminist disability studies but also examines new directions, particularly the queer and crip debates and non-Anglophone developments in feminist disability studies, in particular in Eastern and Central Europe.