Disability studies and inclusive education
The interdisciplinary research field of Disability Studies understands the phenomenon of disability as a product of social conditions and relates it to various physical, sensory, mental and psychological conditions. By analysing processes of exclusion and discrimination, an attempt is made to make social change understandable and, as it were, to set it in motion. Disability is understood as a diverse phenomenon that intersects with other social inequalities such as class, gender, age and affiliation.
The topics of the Disability Studies and Inclusive Education teaching and research area are social and Educational Sciences orientated. They include questions about the realities of life for people with disabilities in different regional and institutional contexts as well as the genesis and legitimacy of knowledge about disability, difference and normality. In the field of education, the social, cultural and professional practices that promote self-determination and inclusion are analysed.
Disability Studies has a long history at the University of Innsbruck and became established as a result of the activism and research of retired Professor Dr Volker Schönwiese and his colleagues. The labour market integration project bidok.ac.at (behinderung-inklusion-dokumentation) with its barrier-free digital library was founded back in 1997 in cooperation with the Disability Studies and Inclusive Education teaching and research area. Since 2021, our team has also been co-editing the newly founded Zeitschrift für Disability Studies/ZDS Journal of Disability Studies.
