Decolonising Disability in Contexts of Illiberalism and Social Abandonment: The Case for a Double-Edged Critique from the Postsocialist Margins

Abstract

This paper explores the relevance of the decolonial approach for analyses of postsocialist disablement, taking as its test case the analytical tool of the ‘postsocialist disability matrix’. The question we pose is how much decolonial critique can the analyses of postsocialist disablement embrace without becoming reactionary amidst growing illiberalism and social abandonment in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)? We provide an overview of postsocialist illiberalism, assess critically some central arguments in decolonial disability studies and outline the production of ‘southern bodies/minds’ as a key feature of social abandonment in CEE. We conclude that decolonising disability in the postsocialist region needs to go beyond the North versus South binary to account for the specific experiences of disabled people inhabiting the ‘poor North’. Given these considerations, the double-edged critique implied in the original formulation of the ‘postsocialist disability matrix’ as scepticism towards both the state and the market could also help embrace the decolonising imperative while remaining sceptical towards both Northern and Southern theory production in disability studies.