Feminist Disability Studies

Liat Ben-Moshe connects deinstitutionalization with prison abolition, challenging the claim that closing institutions caused mass incarceration.

Through disability, trans experience, eugenic history, and environmental restoration, Eli Clare dismantles the ideology of cure while preserving the necessary tension between medical need and refusal of normalization.

Kate Kahle reflects on how diagnostic frameworks can miss autistic women and girls. Her talk connects masking, gender expectations and clinical recognition while cautioning against treating one personal story as every autistic person’s experience.

Ivorian lawyer Brigitte Mensah continues legal work and disability-rights advocacy after losing her sight, prompting questions about accessible voting, legal services and public institutions.

Judith Heumann connects her struggle for education and public participation with the Section 504 protests, showing how collective organizing turns a legal promise into an enforceable right.