This book examines the state of art in disability studies, focusing on the Indian context, as well as the broader South Asian situation. It presents interdisciplinary perspectives on the basic idea, evolution, practices and challenges of researching and teaching disability studies at various higher education institutions and in other civil society spaces. The chapters address a range of related themes, including activism, development policies, research, pedagogy, spatial and social access, caste and gender representations and rights-based discourses. Given the scope of its coverage, the book is of interest to scholars and students in area of humanities, education, law, sociology and social work, political science development and disability studies. About the editors CONTENTS 1. Situating Disability Studies: A Prolegomenon / Nilika Mehrotra Part I: Epistomologies and Representations 2. Decolonising Disability Studies? Developing South Asia-Specific Approaches to Understanding Disability / James Staples 3. Disorder, Disability, Difference: (Re)presenting Autism in India / Shubhangi Vaidya 4. Disability and Public Spaces: Universal Design Approaches / Shilpa Das 5 Ignorance of Disability: Some Epistemological Questions / Anita Ghai 6. Rethinking Monsters: Teaching Disability Studies Through History and the Humanities / Shilpaa Anand Part II: Policy and Institutionalisation 7. Service and Knowledge: The Emergence of Disability Studies Extension / Tanmoy Bhattacharya 8. Disability Education at Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi / Neerja Sharma 9. Establishing a Disability Studies Centre in a Law University: Recounting the CDS NALSAR Experience / Amita Dhanda 10. Mapping Disability Studies Programmes in India: A Case of Hyderabad, Telangana / Nilika Mehrotra and Ritika Gulyani 11. Disability Social Work Education: Emerging Trajectory in India / Srilatha Juvva Part III: Academia—Activism Interface: Enabling Practices 12. Resisting Dominant Construction of Blindness and the Genesis of Disability Studies in the University of Delhi: A Historical Context / Jagdish Chander 13. Emancipating the Lives of Persons with Disabilities: Potential for Contributions by Disability Studies / Deepa Sonpal and Vanmala Hiranandani 14. The Right to Work for Persons with Disability in India: A Critical Disability Theory Perspective / Nimushakavi Vasanthi 15. ‘Encounters’ with Disabled People: Concerns from Field Work Settings / Mahima Nayar 16. Examining the Question of Deaf Education within Disability Studies in Delhi, India / Ritika Gulyani 17. Examining the Experience, Barriers and Enabling Measures for Visually Impaired Visitors in Heritage Sites: A Study in the Indian Context to Enhance Accessibility and Inclusion / Kavita Murugkar, Anurag Kashyap and Abir Mullick ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Nilika Mehrotra is a Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Prior to this, she taught sociology at Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. She specializes in the issues of gender, disability, social policy, and historical analysis of the economic and social development processes.