Call for Chapters: An Inconvenient Body: Disability and Authoritarianism

Disability is a state of being that all beings will experience in their lifetime. Yet, it is a condition that is frequently underexamined and underprioritized particularly in discussions of anti-authoritarianism. In these discussions, disabled people are often the victims of authoritarian violence, rather than as oppositional agents. Authoritarian regimes seek to impose a set of bodily and political ideals which inherently erase disabled people. The Nazis’ infamous Aktion-T4 program murdered thousands of disabled people, and those same scientists studied and worked alongside American scientists. Currently, authoritarians within the United States are advocating for a body politic that is not only hostile to disabled people, but inherently exclusive. In light of this, it is important to examine why and how disability is a threat to authoritarianism. Sara Ahmed in What’s the Use argued 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 and people are anti-authoritarian. 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 anthology is edited and compiled by Riley Clare Valentine Ph.D.

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