Call for Chapters: An Inconvenient Body: Disability and Authoritarianism

Disability is a state of being that everyone who lives long enough will experience at some point. Yet, it is a condition that is frequently under-examined and under-prioritized, particularly in discussions of anti-authoritarianism. In these discussions, disabled people are often framed as arbitrary victims of authoritarian violence, rather than as oppositional agents. Authoritarian regimes impose bodily and political ideals with the goal of erasing disabled people. The Nazis’ infamous Aktion-T4 program murdered thousands of disabled people, and those same scientists studied and worked alongside American scientists. Disability (as a category of marginalisation) serves authoritarian interests by constructing a fear of abjection; authoritarian regimes use disabled people as the abjectified ‘other’ to maintain exploitative hierarchies. Fear of being/becoming disabled (and thereby being oppressed) galvanises every other sub-class in the hierarchy to accept their own exploitation and not resist authoritarianism. Currently, authoritarians across countries are advocating for body politics that inherently exclude disabled people. In light of this, it is important to examine why and how disability—and the reclamation of the disabled identity—is a threat to authoritarianism. Sara Ahmed in What’s the Use argues that disabled bodies are hostile to capitalism, because they cannot work or function in the way a capitalist State demands. Disabled bodies are therefore anti-capitalist. In much the same way, disabled bodies do not and cannot fit within the logics of authoritarianism. As such, disabled bodies are anti-authoritarian. Disabled people, by reclaiming disabled identities from abjection, create modes of resistance to both capitalism and authoritarianism. Reclaiming disabled identities destabilises the fear of becoming disabled, freeing up people in other classes to join in the resistance instead of accepting exploitation. This book provides not just an examination, but a celebration of disabled people’s perspectives, critiques, and analyses of authoritarianism. Desired word length: 5-7,000 words Chapter Due Dates: December 2026 The call closes: June 1 2026 The anthology will be edited and compiled by Riley Clare Valentine and Kavana Ramaswamy Ph.D.