Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal

Call For Papers: RDS Special Issue: Disability and China

Review of Disability Studies (RDS) rdsjournal.org is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, international journal published by the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. The open access journal contains research articles, essays, creative works and multimedia relating to the culture of disability and people with disabilities.

China & Disability Special Issue Overview

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue on Disability and China with guest editors Dr. Luanjiao Hu, The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, Brandeis University, and Dr. Fengming Cui, Harvard Law School Project on Disability, Harvard University. We are currently soliciting papers of approximately 6000 words in length. The deadline for submission of papers is extended to November 18th, 2022. Papers should be submitted to the RDS online submission system at https://rdsjournal.org/ .

China has the world's largest population and also the most persons with disabilities. The country’s official data estimate is 6.34% (roughly 85 million). This figure, very likely underreported, is much lower than the 15% average global disability population reported by the World Bank in 2011. Developing a better understanding of this largest population of persons with disabilities in the world, their status, social conditions, services and systems of protection, is critical to global disability studies and to our understanding of disability.

In the past four decades or so, persons with disabilities have been increasingly visible in China, and disability rights have been slowly recognized and promoted in the nation. Laws and policies have been developed purported to protect the indispensable rights for persons with disabilities as equal members of society. Some meaningful change has taken place since the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) entered into force in China in 2008. Awareness raising on relocating disability/barrier, different capacity against ableism, and equal participation of persons with disabilities through their representative organizations in light of the CRPD all have shed light on disability research and practice in China.

On May 5 this year, the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Disabled entered into force in China three months after China ratified the treaty becoming the 85th member to ratify this treaty with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The event will inspire further research on accessible reading in relation to many people with print disabilities who have been limited by barriers created in publication that prevent them from reading printed works.

Because of China’s unique cultural, political, economic, and social context, the development of disability rights and inclusion in China has its own distinct characteristics. This special issue on Disability and China hopes to highlight important progress and challenges in the emergence/development of Disability Studies, Disability Rights, and Disability Inclusion in China. The amplification of Disability Issues in China will not only bring much-needed visibility of misunderstanding and struggles of Chinese disabled people and their allies in the International Disability Rights Movement, but may also provide potential ideas, inspirations, and strategies for comparative reflections for persons with disabilities and their allies in other parts of the world.

The Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal (RDS) seeks submissions for a special issue on Disability and China. We are currently soliciting papers of approximately 6000 words in length. The deadline for submission of papers is extended to November 18th, 2022. Papers should be submitted to the RDS online submission system at https://rdsjournal.org/ . (When submitting, be sure to select “Special Issue on Disability and China” from the pull-down menu.)

Papers considered for inclusion may take the form of academic and creative works, as well as reflections on disability-specific policies, practices, pedagogies and developments in China.

Topics to be explored may include but are not limited to:

Disability Studies in China: past, present, and future
Disability Rights Movement
Disability History and Genealogy
Disability and Law: domestic & international disability law and rights
People with Disabilities’ Education and Employment
Disability and Health: public health, medicine, and healthcare
Role & Implication of Disabled Persons’ Organizations & Parents’ Organizations
Disability, Gender, and Sexuality

Submissions to this special issue will undergo peer-review. Submissions due date has been extended to November 18th, 2022. Prospective authors are encouraged to consult the RDS website at https://rdsjournal.org/ for more information about the Journal and its formatting guidelines. Authors are encouraged to review previous issues of RDS in preparing their paper and to subscribe to the Journal. All submissions must follow the RDS publication guidelines posted on the website.

We look forward to receiving your submissions. If you have any questions, please contact:

Special Guest Editors:
Dr. Luanjiao Hu, The Lurie Institute for Disability Policy, Brandeis University [email protected] and

Dr. Fengming Cui, Harvard Law School Project on Disability, Harvard University, [email protected]

or [email protected]

(Link to share: https://rdsjournal.org/index.php/journal/china-and-disability)