Dis_abling Politics: On the absent presence of disability in politics and Political Science

Thus far, engagement with disability has been limited in German speaking political science: people with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses have received little attention in political science analyses and theorizing. This applies, too, to critical engagement with constructions of what supposedly constitutes bodily or intellectual 'normality'. Ableism and sanism as systems of social ordering, and the role of disability as a category of difference and identity have been rarely examined in a systematic manner, especially in a German speaking, political science context. This results in a lack of understanding of its resistance to established conceptions of political action and institutions within (feminist) political science. Yet, in its absence, disability is present – manifesting as the 'Other', as that which is repressed, discarded or even threatening, given the dominant political order and its hegemonic mode of analysis.

In this Special Issue, we aim to advance a dialogue between feminist political science and disability studies, including related (sub-)fields such as mad studies, deaf studies, blind studies, queer crip theory and queer crip of colour theory. In this context, disability is understood not as a private matter of individual bodies, but as a politically produced phenomenon. The following thematic areas are of particular interest:

Conceptual Work: 

We welcome contributions that sharpen central concepts of political science and disability studies through critical dialogue. This includes ethical, methodological, and epistemological reflections.

• What is disability – or what appears as disability– in political science?
• What do we gain by critically assessing political science concepts in terms of their capacity to account for people with disabilities? How do concepts of citizenship, justice, participation, democracy, and others change when disability and neurodivergence are taken seriously as expressions of human diversity instead of being depoliticized?
• How can political science's conceptualizations of intersectionality be advanced by integrating insights from disability studies with feminist, queer, trans*, postcolonial and decolonial, and anti-capitalist approaches?

Political Theory and History of Political Thought: 

We invite contributions that critically engage with (naturalized) ability expectations and (subconscious) ability- or capacity-centered assumptions in political theory and intellectual history.

• How do expectations of ability shape the canon of political theory and the history of political thought?
• How are constructions of ability embedded in the ‘coloniality of power’?
• In what ways is disability present/absent in normative conceptions of, for example, political subjectivity, political agency, the capacity for deliberation, self-determination, or democratic competence – as that which is repressed, disruptive of the social order, or even as an explicit criterion of exclusion?

Governing of/through Disability: 

We are interested in contributions addressing the state as a central actor in the (normalizing) regulation of bodies, as well as legal and state regulations of disability.

• How are state policies concerning e.g. the family, sexuality, and population shaped by ability-centered logics, and how do intersecting forms of inequality become articulated within these domains?
• How have state-embedded forms of ableism and sanism been historically transformed: within the welfare state, through neoliberal transformations, and in response to the claims and demands of disability rights movements?

Diagnoses of the Political Present: 

In this Special Issue, we are further interested in current political developments, thereby mobilising the dialogue between disability studies and political science in order to analyze the present more comprehensively and accurately

• How can we better understand the political regulations of disability as an indicator of democratic crisis, rising precarity, and the increasing fascization of social relations?
• How does the neoliberal dismantling of the welfare state connect to discourses of white masculinization, militarization, resilience, or healthism?
• How do the authoritarian transformations of border regimes intersect with ability-/capacity-centered biopolitical and necropolitical regimes in contexts of war, forced displacement, and Lager [camps]?

Resistance, Movements, and Utopia: 

Finally, we welcome contributions that deepen feminist political science by exploring and mobilising alternative knowledge systems from disability studies and related movement contexts regarding diverse aspects of life such as embodiment, care, the social, the political, and more.

• In what ways can we question established forms of political protest and 'the political' through perspectives from disability studies?
• What are collective strategies against ableist structures, and how can political action be oriented toward collective care and inclusion?
• How are intersectional alliances built and enacted in disability rights movements and/or crip activism, and how do these intersect with feminist, queer, trans, inter, anti-racist, anti-fascist, and anti-colonial struggles?
• Where and how do solidarity and allyship, as well as friction and conflict emerge?

Abstracts and Contact: Deadline: 30 November 2026

The Special Issue will be edited by Mai-Anh Boger, Gundula Ludwig, and Carolin Zieringer. Please submit abstracts of 250–500 words by 30 November 2026 to mboger uni-koblenz de and redaktion femina-politica de. Femina Politica is an intersectional feminist academic journal committed to promoting scholarly work by women and genderqueer people (e.g., trans*, inter*, non-binary, or gender-nonconforming persons), both within and beyond academia. We welcome high-quality abstracts for this special issue. Given the thematic focus, we particularly encourage submissions from people with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses.

Submission Deadlines:

The editors invite full manuscripts from selected contributors, with selections made on the basis of submitted abstracts by 15 December 2026. The anonymized manuscripts, ranging from 35,000 to 40,000 characters (including spaces, footnotes and bibliographic references) must be submitted by 15 March 2027.

Information regarding authors may be included on the title page only. All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review processes: Each article will receive one external and one internal (editors') review. If the reviewers' assessments differ significantly, a third review may be requested. Feedback from reviewers will be provided no later than 15 May 2027. The final decision regarding the publication of the article is made by the editors on the basis of the reviewers’ reports. Rejections may occur at this stage if both reviews are clearly negative. The deadline for the finalized version of the article is July, 15th, 2027. Please note: These deadlines are not flexible, as they ensure the timely publication of the (print) version.