New Linkages for a Complex Inclusive Education: Third World Feminism, Post-Positivist Realism and Disability Studies

Abstract

This chapter describes the contribution of Third World feminism for a materially grounded understanding of inclusive education that can make the transnational significance of this field more robust and enduring. The work of Third World feminist scholar, C. T. Mohanty, forms the central focus of the discussion, which develops linkages between the philosophical roots of her teachings and the work of some disability studies scholars. I argue that a historical-materialist understanding of disability is necessary for developing a nuanced theory of inclusive education that confers significance to the element of process. This supports a more expansive conceptualization of inclusive education that can avoid the theory-practice divide which leaves schooling systems around the world at hierarchized locations of ‘success’ or ‘failure’ in realizing its principles.

Citation

Naraian, S. (2015), "New Linkages for a Complex Inclusive Education: Third World Feminism, Post-Positivist Realism and Disability Studies", Foundations of Inclusive Education Research (International Perspectives on Inclusive Education, Vol. 6), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 101-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-363620150000006010