CFP: Central and Eastern Europe as Method(ology) in Disability Studies

The Faculty of Management and Social Communication and the Research Platform “Disability Studies in Eastern Europe: Reconfigurations” (Jagiellonian University, Kraków) invite paper submissions for a conference "Central and Eastern Europe as Method(ology) in Disability Studies" that will be held on 27-28 November 2026, Kraków

Call for Papers

The Central and Eastern European region constitutes a specific context for the development of activism and critical disability studies. Post-socialist countries are marked by distinct historical and political trajectories that complicate generalized understandings of the Global North and have contributed to the emergence of particular conditions for the development of disability activism and critical disability studies. The socialist system and the post-socialist transformation shaped public institutions in a particular way—not only those dedicated to persons with disabilities/disabled people (we use both terms, as their choice reflects different individual preferences and modes of self-identification), but all others as well. At the same time, it hindered the development of independent initiatives, including social activism. The interests of minority and marginalized groups were often subordinated to the overarching struggle against an oppressive political system before 1989 and to economic concerns during the post-socialist transition. During both periods, attention was primarily directed toward the rights of the so-called normative majority. Although activism by disabled people/persons with disabilities did exist, it is often not recognized or commemorated today.

For these reasons, the systemic transformation and transition to a democratic capitalist system did not result in the recognition of civil and human rights for all, but rather for those groups that were already privileged. Moreover, neoliberal capitalism—characterized by an emphasis on independence, entrepreneurship, self-reliance, productivity, mobility, communicativeness, and flexibility—has contributed to economic disparities, inadequate support systems, insufficient accommodations, and restricted access to education, employment, and public services. These conditions have not been conducive to strengthening the professional, social, academic, or political participation of persons with disabilities/disabled people.

The ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by Central and Eastern European countries (which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year) has contributed to improving the situation of this group by setting directions for legal, political, and cultural change. In a number of contexts in the region, the Convention is not only regarded as a normative framework—whose legal provisions, however, often fall short of producing meaningful change in practice—but is also actively used by disability movements as a political and policy instrument, as well as a tool for advocacy, shadow reporting, and monitoring of states, thereby fostering a strong sense of ownership and engagement. At the same time, the Convention emerged from extensive disability activism and advocacy and remains deeply rooted in disability studies and disability organizing; its genealogy, therefore, cannot be understood solely as top-down. However, in many countries in the region, the implementation of its provisions remains slow, fragmented, and, at times, merely declarative.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing since 2022, has placed the entire region in a state of insecurity and has directly affected the situation of disabled people/persons with disabilities. Among other factors, this contributes to the fact that persons with disabilities/disabled people in Central and Eastern Europe find themselves in a distinct position compared to many contexts commonly associated with the Global North, although both categories are internally diverse and should not be treated as homogeneous. This situation is shaped by multiple historical, political, and socio-economic conditions, including—but not limited to—the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Critical disability studies emerge directly from the realities in which they are situated. In order to maintain both scholarly credibility and social impact, they must continually undertake the work of situating themselves in context. This includes taking into account the past, present, and potential futures of the region and the groups they concern, as well as the cultural competences, experiences, and discourses within which the researcher operates. These situated experiences of disabled people/persons with disabilities, as well as those of allies and both disabled and non-disabled researchers, form the foundation for further knowledge production, the development of language and concepts, and the recognition of relationships between phenomena.

 

This raises important questions:

What does the “toolbox” of critical disability studies in Central and Eastern Europe look like today?

Which methodological approaches developed within Anglophone critical disability studies allow us to conceptualize and understand the situation of persons with disabilities/disabled people, as well as to study activist, artistic, and emancipatory movements in the region?

What concepts, rooted in local knowledge and experience, do we apply in our research projects?

What theories and methodologies do we therefore develop? How do we share them? How do we develop them?

In the countries of the region, critical disability studies still rarely function as a distinct academic discipline—there is a lack of dedicated study programs, departments, institutes, or doctoral programs. Consequently, research in this field remains dispersed across various disciplines, such as cultural studies, sociology, history, art studies, as well as legal and political sciences. While this dispersion hinders institutional development and research collaboration, it is also seen as a potential strength: it fosters theoretical and methodological diversity, enables the combination of research tools, and supports the circulation of knowledge about disability across disciplines. As a result, disability studies in the region are characterised by a high degree of interdisciplinarity and intersectionality.

For these reasons, the emergence of locally conditioned research practices, theoretical approaches, and activist and emancipatory strategies in the region is increasingly evident. The resulting “toolbox” represents not only a creative adaptation of theories developed in Anglophone contexts, filtered through the historical and contemporary experiences of disabled people/persons with disabilities in Central and Eastern Europe, but also includes approaches that are alternative to, or in critical dialogue with, them. In this sense, knowledge production in the region is not confined to local contexts alone but contributes to broader theoretical and methodological debates. Although the development of this field can be traced through a growing number of academic publications, as well as self-advocacy and activist initiatives, there have so far been relatively few attempts to systematically capture and map it.

The conference Disability Studies in Eastern Europe – Reconfigurations, held in Kraków in May 2024 (marking the culmination of the long-standing research platform of the same name, which has networked scholars from the region), provided an opportunity to examine the scale, condition, and research areas within Eastern European critical disability studies. At the same time, it sought to map the specificity of research methods and methodologies, as well as the self-advocacy and activist strategies of persons with disabilities/disabled people in Central and Eastern Europe. Rather than asking what Central and Eastern European disability studies can offer to a presumed “global field,” it is important to consider how CEE disability studies contributes to and reshapes disability studies more broadly, how it is positioned within these knowledge hierarchies, and how the “global” field is itself structured by dominant Anglophone—particularly American and British—frameworks.

 

We invite submissions addressing, however, not exclusively, the following issues:

how theoretical tools in critical disability studies are mobilised, adapted, and transformed in Central and Eastern European contexts, and how these engagements both contribute to and unsettle dominant Anglophone epistemological frameworks that often define what counts as “global” disability studies;

autoethnography and reflective accounts in one’s own research, self-advocacy, and activist tools;

the development of activist and artivist movements in Central and Eastern Europe;

art and culture created by disabled people/persons with disabilities:  unique aesthetics, critical and emancipatory tools, potential for individual and collective agency;

the local contexts of implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the countries of the region;

the impact of the history of disability on modes of research and on the current situation of persons with disabilities/disabled people;

mapping the specificity of critical disability studies in the region from both institutional and substantive perspectives;

access to education and the possibilities for academic career development for disabled researchers.

 

SUBMISSION:

You may submit:

individual paper proposal, that should include an abstract up to 250 words;

panel proposal, that should include an abstract of the panel and abstracts of 3 to 4 papers/presentations (each up to 250 words);

roundtable proposal, that should include an abstract of the roundtable (up to 250 words) and list of  discussants and their affiliations.

To submit your proposal please use the SUBMISSION FORM (https://forms.office.com/e/LaT4Axm5a0).

The deadline for submitting proposals is 20 July 2026. Presenters will be notified of the acceptance of their paper or panel by 1st September 2026.

The conference will be held  in Kraków in person. There is no conference fee.

The rules of procedures can be found here (https://ujchmura-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/magda_zdrodowska_uj_edu_pl/IQBCUiYp_DFeTZ3M7DmKSnFeAemMd0W3kxEGlQbkga_IuhM?e=enLrNn). If you have any questions please feel free to write to: monika.kwasniewska@uj.edu.pl or magda.zdrodowska@uj.edu.pl

 

Program Committee:

Monika Kwaśniewska Mikuła (Jagiellonian University), chair

Hana Drštičková (Charles University in Prague)

Magda Szarota (Polish Academy of Sciences)

Magdalena Zdrodowska (Jagiellonian University), organising team