Learning from Postcolonial Studies, Decolonial Theory and Indigenous Studies in Disability Studies

Over ten years ago, Helen Meekosha called for a process of intellectual decolonisation in Disability Studies, in which publications drawing on postcolonial or decolonial theories have gained momentum recently. The chapter takes stock of such theorising regarding the scope of topics, disciplinary locations, geographical foci, concepts and theories used. Post- or decolonial theorising can be found in historical, literary and cinematic analyses. It affects disability concepts, diagnostic tools and activist communities – centring the social reality of disabled people in the Global South in the respective postcolonial moment, as well as the high prevalence of impairments due to neocolonial exploitation or violence.