Introduction

Postcolonial studies is a dynamic discipline, dealing with non-Western countries and their cultures, which fall within the scope of cultural studies. This critical approach, underpinned by critical disability studies, refers to a set of theoretical attitudes, which analyse the colonial discourse with an emphasis on colonial consequences. In this handbook, we explore the postcolonial theory, which looks at issues of power, economics, politics, religion and culture and how these elements work in relation to colonial supremacy. We argue that disability is a constitutive material present in many postcolonial societies but remains surprisingly absent as a subject of analysis in the field of postcolonial studies. We also believe that progressive disability politics arise from postcolonial concerns, creating dialogues between postcolonialism and disability studies. Thus, the thrust of this handbook is about challenging oppression, voicelessness, stereotyping, undermining, neo-colonisation, postcolonisation, ‘them and us’ and bridging the gap between the global North and the global South spaces. We bring together diverse themes of how disability intersects with postcolonialism.