ABSTRACT
Emancipatory research, as both methodological strategy and political stance, has gained considerable ground among scholars in disability studies and allied disciplines. The strongest version of this perspective within disability studies argues that the legitimacy of research should be judged on its ability to improve the lives of individuals with impairments by removing social and economic barriers (Oliver 1992). From this vantage point, research and activism are two sides of the same coin. They are, and should be, inextricably intertwined. Research that does not directly support the cause of revealing and removing social and economic barriers is to be avoided. While supported by many scholars in disability studies, this version of emancipatory research is not unchallenged.
