For decades, the perception of persons with disabilities has been dominated by the so-called medical or individualistic model, which defines disability according to biomedical and genetic paradigms and in contrast to ‘healthy’ and ‘functioning’ bodies and minds. Strongly building on the disability rights movement, the social model of disability developed from the 1970s onwards, based on the idea that people are more disabled by the societies in which they live rather than by their bodies, their physical/mental conditions, or diagnoses. (Shakespeare, Tom. 2006. “The Social Model of Disability.”) In this framework, scholars were also able to develop critical perspectives on society as a whole and especially on those who benefit from excluding and marginalising others. Starting in the 1990s, cultural studies perspectives became significant in disability studies, challenging notions of disability as well as ability (meaning normalcy, health, workability, etc.) as relating to and constantly referencing each other and, in general, emphasizing both as being socially constructed categories of power. (Snyder, Sharon L., and David T. Mitchell. 2005. Cultural Locations of Disability.) While all these models and perspectives are ideal types and thus have their limitations, they have allowed for more conscious and systematic engagement with the subject.
In many respects, disability studies have similarities to gender as well as queer studies. In all these fields, the main impetus for academic research and debate originated from social movements, whose protagonists had regularly also acted as knowledge producers. They were often the first to conduct research and write about their experiences, marginalization, and structural discrimination from the perspective of those concerned. This interconnection between political and epistemic practices has therefore been a critical issue in gender, queer and disability studies. It has also been one of the reasons why these fields have been (and are again recently) questioned, particularly often as being not credible, legitimate, or scientific. In addition, similarities and intersections exist between the concept of disability and race, ethnicity, class, religion and citizenship status (e.g. displacement).
This special issue expands these questions into the field of disability history, examining how disability can be conceptualised as a category of historical analysis that intersects with other categories, amid the challenges outlined above. In doing so, it will engage with emerging fields such as critical ability history, which examines “how able-bodiedness, self-government, and citizenship have been entwined in modern history”. (Mackert, N., Martschukat, J. 2019. “Critical Ability History”.) The issue further draws on recent theoretical contributions such as cripistemology and crip negativity, which critically interrogate the category of disability itself. Drawing on ongoing discussions about emancipatory approaches and participatory research designs in disability studies (Andersen, C. S., Askheim, O. P., & Dolva, A.-S. 2023. “We surely are researchers now!” Participatory methods as an empowering process with disabled children in research; Flieger, P. 2003. Partizipative Forschungsmethoden und ihre konkrete Umsetzung.) as well as interventions from queer and crip scholars (Smilges, J. L. 2023. “Crip negativity”; Kafer, A. 2013. Feminist, Queer, Crip.) the issue also seeks to broaden the perspective on questions around the role of experts, power relations in academia, and epistemic authority.
The issue invites research articles (8.000-10.000 words including references), interviews, as well as shorter contributions, focusing e.g. on museums and archives, that either foreground methodological and theoretical questions or exemplify specific theoretical and/or methodological approaches through empirical studies. We welcome contributions that explore the conceptualisation of disability across all periods and in all parts of Europe, while situating these perspectives within a broader global context.
Submissions to the special issue could include, but are not restricted to the following topics:
– Reframing Disability History through an intersectional lens: intersections between disability and class (poverty), gender, sexuality, race, religion and migration
– Disability history as history from below and as a category to challenge and complement narratives in fields like the history of medicine
– Disability as an issue of rights and development – the activities of national and international organizations (citizens’ initiatives, NGOs, churches)
– Crip histories, queer perspectives in disability history, questions of temporalities
– Disability in postcolonial/decolonial frameworks
– Disability and memory cultures: collection and exhibition
– Approaches on education, for example, in relation to the history of developmental disabilities
– Reflections on knowledge practices and power relations in disability history: questions of subjectivity, allyship and participatory methods
The Austrian Journal of Historical Studies (OeZG) is a peer-reviewed open-access journal that was established in 1990. It publishes articles on a variety of topics, including the history of science, political history, women’s and gender history, cultural history, and economic and social history. The journal’s strength lies in its ability to connect theoretically and methodologically innovative approaches with relevant historical debates and topics.
Interested authors are invited to submit an abstract of the planned contribution in English or German (up to 500 words, including references) via email to elisa.heinrich@eui.eu and monika.baar@eui.eu by 15 November 2025. If authors are invited to contribute to the issue, research paper manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.
Should you have questions or wish to discuss a short proposal, please do not hesitate to contact the guest editors.
TIMELINE
Proposal deadline: 15 November 2025
Invitation of full papers: 1 December 2025
Full paper submission deadline: 1 September 2026
