August 11th, 2025
Disability Studies Under Threat: A Call to Defend Critical and Emancipatory Scholarship
An urgent call for international crip-solidarity: Disability Studies in Germany are under threat! ZeDiSplus (Hamburg) may close, and iDiS (Cologne) faces severe cuts. These institutions lead in inclusive, rights-based research and teaching. Their loss would undermine diversity, social justice, and critical academic inquiry. We call for their preservation and expansion—now more than ever!
We kindly ask for your support by signing our petition:
Across the globe, Disability Studies has established itself as a bold and forward-looking field of scholarship—interdisciplinary by nature, international in scope, and committed to challenging deeply ingrained assumptions about disability. Its central shift in perspective is as simple as it is radical: disability is not an individual defect or personal tragedy, but a social and political phenomenon. The barriers that exclude people from full participation in society are not found in their bodies, but in the structures, norms, and power relations that shape the world around them. From this foundation, Disability Studies engages in fundamental theoretical work, critiques the forces of standardisation and normalisation, and insists on the participation of disabled people in research, teaching, and policymaking. Its rallying cry, “Nothing about us without us,” is not just a slogan but a methodological principle.
In the German-speaking world, this perspective has taken root since the early 2000s. Centres such as the Centre for Disability Studies and Participation Research (ZeDiSplus) in Hamburg, the International Research Centre for Disability Studies (iDiS) in Cologne, and the Bochum Centre for Disability Studies (BODYS) have become key nodes in a growing academic network. They have nurtured scholarship that not only connects to international debates, but also enriches public discourse, develops teaching programmes, and builds bridges between universities and social movements. These institutions are more than research units—they are living spaces where theory and activism meet.
And yet, just as the need for critical, rights-based, and inclusion-oriented research becomes more pressing, these same institutions face the threat of dismantlement. ZeDiSplus, home to pioneering work in inclusive education and one of the first institutional footholds for Disability Studies in Germany, is set to close by the end of this year. Its closure would erase not only a unique professorship but also a platform that has consistently challenged state policies, trained new generations of critical scholars, and opened academic spaces to public participation through widely accessible lectures and publications.
In Cologne, the iDiS—along with Germany’s first full professorship in the sociology and politics of rehabilitation and Disability Studies—is in danger of being gutted by austerity measures in North Rhine-Westphalia. This centre has made foundational contributions to the field, producing widely used textbooks, comprehensive handbooks, and theoretical frameworks that have resonated far beyond Germany’s borders. Its closure would be more than a local loss: it would sever a vital connection between German-language Disability Studies and the broader international research community.
These developments are not isolated incidents. They form part of a wider backlash against socially critical scholarship, one that has already targeted Gender and Queer Studies and now seeks to undermine disciplines that question the status quo. The strategy is familiar: first, portray such fields as fringe or politically suspect; then, use financial and institutional pressure to weaken or eliminate them. The result is a narrowing of academic diversity and a silencing of voices that challenge injustice.
The dismantling of Disability Studies is not a neutral administrative decision—it is a retreat from democratic principles enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which Germany is a signatory. Universities are not only centres of knowledge production; they are public institutions with a mandate to foster inclusion, equality, and critical reflection. Closing the very programmes that embody these values sends a stark message about which voices and perspectives are deemed expendable.
Defending Disability Studies is, therefore, not merely about preserving jobs or protecting an academic niche. It is about safeguarding a space where disabled people’s experiences and insights are treated as sources of knowledge, where social barriers are interrogated rather than ignored, and where the vision of a more just and accessible society is kept alive in both theory and practice. To lose such spaces now would be to accept a narrowing of intellectual horizons at precisely the moment when the challenges of inequality, exclusion, and authoritarianism demand that we widen them.
Science thrives on plurality, dissent, and the willingness to rethink established truths. A society that silences its critical voices does not just weaken its universities—it weakens its democracy. To protect Disability Studies is to affirm the value of critical inquiry, to stand against the erosion of human rights, and to defend the idea that our universities must remain places where diverse perspectives are not only tolerated, but actively cultivated. The struggle for these institutions is, in the end, a struggle over the kind of society we want to live in: open or closed, inclusive or exclusionary, democratic or diminished.
Erstunterzeichnende (1. August 2025):
Prof. Dr. i.R. Theresia Degener, Bochumer Zentrum für Disability Studies (BODYS), Evangelische Hochschule RWL Bochum
Prof. Dr. i.R. Swantje Köbsell, Alice Salomon Hochschule, Berlin
Prof. Dan Goodley, FBA, PhD, BSc (Hons) School of Education, University of Sheffield, Professor of Disability Studies and Education, iHuman Co-director, Fellow of the British Academy
Raúl Krauthausen, Sozialhelden e.V.
Prof. Robert McRuer, Professor of English, Queer and Crip Cultural Studies and Critical Theory, George Washington University, Washington, USA
Horst Frehe, Staatsrat für Soziales Bremen a.D. und Richter am Sozialgericht a.D.
Prof. em. Lennard J. Davis, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago
Dr. Michaela Koch, Zentrum Gender & Diversity
Interessenvertretung Selbstbestimmt Leben in Deutschland e.V. (ISL), Berlin
Prof. Dr. i.R. Gerlinde Renzelberg, Universität Hamburg, Gründungsmitglied & ehem. Leiterin des Zentrums für Disability Studies (ZeDiS)
Prof. Dr. i.R. Anne Waldschmidt, Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät, Universität zu Köln
Prof. Dr. Hans Wocken, Universität Hamburg
Prof. Tom Shakespeare, Professor of Disability Research, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK
Jürgen F. Bollmann, Propst em. der Ev.-Luth. Kirche in Norddeutschland
Prof. Dr. Andreas Heinecke, Dialogue Social Enterprise
Prof. Dr. Rebecca Maskos, Professur für Disability Studies, Alice Salomon Hochschule, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Sabine Fries, Studiengang Gebärdensprachdolmetschen, HAW Landshut
Prof. Dr. em. Marianne Pieper, Universität Hamburg
Prof. Justin J.W. Powell, Professur für Bildungssoziologie, Universität Luxemburg & Vizepräsident, Luxembourg Educational Research Association
Prof. em. Mark Priestley, Professor of Disability Policy, School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds, UK
Bertold Scharf, Institut für Digitale Teilhabe an der Hochschule Bremen
Gudrun Kellermann, M.A., Bochumer Zentrum für Disability Studies (BODYS), Evangelische Hochschule RWL Bochum
PD Dr. Elsbeth Bösl, Universität der Bundeswehr München
Prof. Dr. Michael Schillmeier, University of Exeter
Prof. Dr. Kathrin Römisch, Bochumer Zentrum für Disability Studies (BODYS), Evangelische Hochschule RWL Bochum
Prof. Dr. phil. Miklas Schulz, Stiftung Universität Hildesheim, Institut für Erziehungswissenschaft, Abteilung Angewandte Erziehungswissenschaft
Prof. Dr. Jutta Wedemann, Prorektorin für die Ev. Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit & Diakonie, Stiftung Das Rauhe Haus, Hamburg
Prof.in Dr.in Carla Wesselmann, Hochschule Emden/Leer
Prof. Dr. Michael Zander, Hochschule Magdeburg – Stendal
Prof. Dr. Jasna Russo, Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin
Prof.in Dr.in Gertraud Kremsner, Universität Koblenz
Fabian Rombach, Doktorand, Universität zu Köln
Dr. Sarah Karim, Lehrkraft für besondere Aufgaben, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Prof. Dr. Gudrun Wansing, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Dr. Carolin Fleischer-Heininger, Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien (DIJ) Tokyo
Prof. Dr. Sigrid Arnade, Honorarprofessorin Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin
Prof. Dr. Robert Stock, Institut für Kulturwissenschaft, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Prof. Dr. Beate Ochsner, Universität Konstanz, Medienwissenschaften
Prof. Dr. Urte Helduser, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg
Dr. Heike Raab, Independent Scholar
Prof. Dr. Birgit Behrisch, Professur für Erziehungswissenschaft mit dem Schwerpunkt Pädagogik der Kindheit / Disability Studies, Katholische Hochschule für Sozialwesen Berlin
Mark Zaurov, Interessengemeinschaft Gehörloser Jüdischer Abstammung in Deutschland e.V. (IGJAD)
Dr. Nicole Viktoria Przytulla, Wissenschaftlerin im Bereich Disability Studies und Antidiskriminierung
PD Dr. Nina Mackert, Hamburg
Prof. Dr. Klaus Birnstiel, Vertretungsprofessur für Neuere deutsche Literaturwissenschaft mit kulturtheoretischer Ausrichtung, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Lingelbach, Historisches Seminar der Universität Kiel
Prof.‘in Dr. Pamela Perniss, Gebärdensprachforschung und -dolmetschen, Universität zu Köln
Prof. Dr. Karen Soldatic, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing, School of Disability Studies, Toronto Metropolitan University
Prof. Dr. Markus Dederich, Universität zu Köln
Prof. Dr. Matthias Otten, Technische Hochschule Köln
Prof. Dr. Anja Tervooren, Universität Duisburg-Essen
Anemari Karacic, Institut Arbeit und Qualifikation, Universität Duisburg-Essen
Prof. Dr. Robel Afeworki Abay, Gastprofessor Disability Studies, Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin
Prof. Dr. Tom Bieling, HfG Offenbach / DESIGNABILITIES Design Research Journal
Prof. Dr. Marion Müller, Institut für Soziologie, Universität Tübingen
Dr. Bianca Frohne, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Historisches Seminar
Dr. Marie Hecke, Research Associate am Institut für feministische Theologie, Theologische Geschlechterforschung und soziale Vielfalt der Kirchlichen Hochschule Wuppertal
Johanna Knebel, Doktorandin, Centre for Disability Studies, University of Leeds
Prof. Dr. Karin Harrasser, Kunstuniversität Linz
Dr. Nina Eckhoff-Heindl, Institut für Medienkultur und Theater, Universität zu Köln
Mag. Eva Egermann, FH Kärnten, Disability Diversity und Digitalisierung
Prof. Dr. Mai-Anh Boger, Universität Koblenz
Prof. Dr. Birgit Ulrike Münch, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Universität Bonn
Dr. Antke A. Engel, Institut für Queer Theory Berlin
Johanna Leidich, Universität zu Köln/HWG Ludwigshafen
Prof. i.R. Dr. Thomas Macho, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Annelen Fritz, Universität Tübingen
Sebastian Marx, Doktorand, Universität zu Köln
Prof. Dr. Mechthild Bereswill, Universität Kassel
Dr. Daniela A. Frickel, Universität zu Köln
Dr. Johannes Görbert, Université de Fribourg
Hannah Kröll, Universität Duisburg-Essen
Prof. Hannah Morgan, Chair in Disability Studies, University of Leeds, UK
Dr. des. Yvonne Wechuli, Universität Kassel
Prof. Julia Watts Belser, Jewish Studies, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty Disability Studies Program, Georgetown University Washington, DC, USA
Assoc. Prof. Katerina Kolarova, Ph.D., Gender Study Program, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University in Prague
Apl. Prof. Dr. Wolfhard Schweiker, Universität Tübingen
Dr. Sarah Neelsen, Assistenzprofessorin, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
Prof* Dr* RyLee Hühne, Gender & Diversity in der Informatik
Miro Griffiths, Director of the Centre for Disability Studies, University of Leeds, UK
Brian McGowan, ETH Zürich
Prof. Dr. Heidi Helmhold, Universität zu Köln, Department für Kunst und Musik
Tim Hollenhorst, Universität Siegen
Prof. Dr. Erik Weber, Universität Erfurt
Dr. Kathrin Ganz, Freie Universität Berlin
Simon Ledder
Louisa Veltin, Universität Kassel
Ann Kristin Augst, TU Dortmund
Henrike Buhr, Universität Kassel
Dr.*in Thamar Klein, Universität zu Köln
Prof. Dr. Tanja Nusser, University of Cincinnati
Dr. Angela Wegscheider, Johannes Kepler Universität Linz
Andreas Hechler, Autor und Urenkel eines Opfers der NS-‚Euthanasie’
Radu Harald Dinu, Assistant Professor of history, Jönköping University (Schweden)
Mag.a Dr.in Astrid Kury, Akademie Graz
Barbara Vieweg, Geschäftsführung Bildungs- und Forschungsinstitut zum selbstbestimmten Leben Behinderter – bifos e.V.
Prof. i.R. Heike Ehrig, Düsseldorf
Susanne Groth, Universität zu Köln
Mael Boenig, Universität Kassel
Andreas Sturm, M.A., Universität Koblenz
M. C. Haas, Universität zu Köln
Prof. Dr. Mart Busche, Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin
Daniel von Orloff, Universität zu Köln
Christian Judith, Diplom Sozialpädagoge, Sozialarbeiter
Prof. em. Georgina Kleege, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Birte Klingler, Universität Siegen
Dr. Hanna Weinbach, Universität Siegen
Prof. Dr. Olaf Stieglitz, Universität Leipzig
Jane Eschment, Universität zu Köln
Prof. Dr. Nanna Lüth, BdK – Fachverband für Kunstpädagogik, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Ralph J. Poole, Universität Salzburg
Lea Klöpfer, Universität Koblenz
Burak Şengüler, Department Kunst und Musik, Universität zu Köln
a.o. Univ.-Prof. i.R. Volker Schönwiese, Disability Studies Austria (DiStA)
Prof. Dr. Dagmar Hoffmann, Universität Siegen
Prof. Dr. Timm Kunstreich, Evangelische Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit und Diakonie Hamburg
Prof.in Dr. Monika Schröttle, RWU Hochschule Ravensburg-Weingarten
Dr. Malena Rotter Lechanu
Ass.-Prof. Dr.x Katta Spiel, TU Wien
Rolf Emmerich, Leiter des Kölner Sommerblut-Kulturfestivals
Charlotte Püttmann, Universität zu Köln
Dr. Philipp Seitzer, Universität zu Köln
Julia Dick, Lehrende am Lehrstuhl für Ästhetische Bildung, Universität zu Köln
Friedrich Gabel, IZEW Universität Tübingen
Prof. Dr. Renate Lorenz, Akademie der Bildenden Künste Wien
Prof.* Dr.* Okan Kubus, Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal
Prof. Dr. Julie A. Panagiotopoulou, Universität zu Köln
Lea Braitsch, Universität zu Köln
Margrit Shildrick, Guest Professor of Gender an Knowledge Production, Stockholms Universitet, Stockholm
Steven Solbrig, Künstlerin u. Theoretikerin
Hans-Günter Heiden, M.A., Publizist
Kelly Fritsch, Canada Research Chair in Disability, Health, and Social Justice, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, Canada
Dr. Marco Krüger, Universität Tübingen
Prof. Dr. Regina Ammicht Quinn, Ethikzentrum Universität Tübingen
Prof. Albrecht Rohrmann, Professor für Sozialpädagogik mit den Schwerpunkten soziale Rehabilitation und Inklusion an der Universität Siegen, Sprecher des Zentrums für Planung und Entwicklung Sozialer Dienste
Professor Leslie Swartz, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Prof. Dr. Sandra Fietkau, Ev. Hochschule Ludwigsburg
Dr. Marcus Weisen, Experte, Pôle Européen d’Accessibilité Culturelle/European Centre for Cultural Accessibility
Steffen Hallaschka, Moderator
Dr. Michelle Botha, Stellenbosch University
Barbara Reisinger, Universität Stuttgart
Alexa Dobelmann, Universität Innsbruck
Janice McLaughlin, Newcastle University
Prof. Brian Watermeyer, Stellenbosch University
Anita Prasser, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Dr. Irmhild Rogalla, Leiterin Institut für Digitale Teilhabe, Hochschule Bremen
Malin Butschkau
Dr.in Katarina Schneider-Bertan, Universität zu Köln
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Michael Ewers, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Dr. Sabine Rohlf
Prof. Dr. Ulf Liedke, Evangelische Hochschule Dresden
Sasha Kirsten Achtelik, Journalist*in, ehm. Lehre Disability Studies Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin
Dr. Kirsten Kemna, Kuratorium Deutsche Altershilfe
Prof. Dr. Rahel Puffert, Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig
Prof. Dr. Lisa Pfahl, Professorin für Disability Studies an der Universität Innsbruck
Learning Disabilities and Autism Research Group at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Dagmar Filter, ehem. Leiterin des Zentrums GenderWissen Hamburg