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This book brings to light the ‘many sides’ of disability, that is, the philosophical, psychological, psychoanalytic and linguistic ways of responding to disability or to becoming disabled. The central question that the book is a response to is: What does disability teach us? Towards this end, the book shows how the concept of inclusion is of much wider relevance than a classroom with disabled or disadvantaged learners; this is done by highlighting how the foundational concept of centring operates in various aspects of knowing. Centring disability demands reconfiguring the centre of knowledge generation by relocating disability from its present peripheral position to the centre; this ontological reframing makes disability an epistemological source. The reframing, done through themes of inclusion, education, language, policy reforms and, most clearly, sign language studies, lends a sharper focus to the one central point – centring. The book tries to convince the readers of the significance of this idea in education in general, and specifically, as an aid in our often-clumsy ways of grasping the concept of disability. It argues that we can make education – especially in a multilingual, multicultural country like India – more meaningful, socially relevant and responsible, and also shift our generic but vague perception of the concept of disability, through centring. Inclusion is the process of effectuating these goals. In the end, the book opens a window to a world that promises social transformation through inclusion.
Price: $61.00
Pages: 384
Publisher: Tulika Books
Imprint: Tulika Books
Publication Date:
October 27, 2026
Trim Size: 9.21 X 6.14 in
ISBN: 9788195839452
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Disability, EDUCATION / Inclusive Education, EDUCATION / Educational Policy & Reform / General, LAW / Disability, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / Caribbean & Latin American Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social
[B]eyond the medical and social models of disability and even disability activism, there is a need to centre disability studies as a form of knowledge, not just as a slogan but as a foundational educational and socio-political discourse. It is only through a disability-centric epistemology that we will be able to fight the forces of homogenization and acquire the sensitivity to look at others with empathy. Disability is not an odd formation out there; it is central to all forms of life and social groups.
— Rama Kantg Agnihotri, Former Professor, University of Delhi; Professor Emeritus, Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur
Tanmoy Bhattacharya’s book has the potential to shake up various forms of taken-for-grantedness by centring disability studies, Deaf studies and disability justice frameworks. It offers readers the opportunity to critically reflect on the many problems of homogeneity and to explore ways to dismantle it. Spanning philosophical, political, academic and cultural questions pertaining to the shapes of normativity and difference, the chapters hold the promise of thought exercises we must undertake to identify and discard the insularities of thought and action.
— Shilpaa Anand, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad
This book attends carefully to the invisibility of disabled people/people with disabilities as active knowledge producers, not in spite of but rather because of their lived realities. It convincingly argues that many different types of knowledge are enriched when viewed through the disability rights/disability justice lens. … It will be a useful resource and reference for research, policy-making, teaching and especially advocacy, as it rejects the homogenization of disabled people/people with disabilities
— Gregor Wolbring, Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, University of Calgary
This wonderful text writes across and through key disability and Deaf communities, literature, methods and academic disciplines that have been impacted by the impress of critical disability studies theory and scholarship. The learnings of disability are very much presented here, echoing previous work on critical pedagogy and social justice education.
— Dan Goodley, School of Education, University of Sheffield
— Rama Kantg Agnihotri, Former Professor, University of Delhi; Professor Emeritus, Vidya Bhawan Society, Udaipur
Tanmoy Bhattacharya’s book has the potential to shake up various forms of taken-for-grantedness by centring disability studies, Deaf studies and disability justice frameworks. It offers readers the opportunity to critically reflect on the many problems of homogeneity and to explore ways to dismantle it. Spanning philosophical, political, academic and cultural questions pertaining to the shapes of normativity and difference, the chapters hold the promise of thought exercises we must undertake to identify and discard the insularities of thought and action.
— Shilpaa Anand, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad
This book attends carefully to the invisibility of disabled people/people with disabilities as active knowledge producers, not in spite of but rather because of their lived realities. It convincingly argues that many different types of knowledge are enriched when viewed through the disability rights/disability justice lens. … It will be a useful resource and reference for research, policy-making, teaching and especially advocacy, as it rejects the homogenization of disabled people/people with disabilities
— Gregor Wolbring, Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies, University of Calgary
This wonderful text writes across and through key disability and Deaf communities, literature, methods and academic disciplines that have been impacted by the impress of critical disability studies theory and scholarship. The learnings of disability are very much presented here, echoing previous work on critical pedagogy and social justice education.
— Dan Goodley, School of Education, University of Sheffield
Tanmoy Bhattacharya is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Delhi, and guides research on syntax, psycholinguistics, gender, disability, deaf education and sign linguistics. He has been the member-convener of a UGC Committee on Disability and Higher Education; Coordinator of the Equal Opportunity Cell, University of Delhi; and Chairperson, Expert Committee on Development of Training Programme on Indian Sign Language, Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI). His research publications and talks highlight the diverse range of interests that academic life has brought him.