This edited volume seeks to re-center the Global South as a critical site of knowledge production and praxis on disability and chronic illness. It challenges the uncritical transfer of Euro-American theoretical models that often fail to reflect the social, political, and cultural realities of people living with disabilities and chronic illnesses in developing contexts. Instead, it promotes a decolonial rethinking of disability and chronicity one that values local epistemologies, community-based resilience, and intersectional justice.
Editors
- Dr. Tafadzwa Rugoho – Zimbabwe Open University
- Prof. Refilwe Morwane – Boitekanelo College,Botswana
Overview
The majority of people with disabilities reside in the Global South, where most experience high levels of poverty. Regions such as Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and parts of the Pacific continue to bear a disproportionate burden of disability and chronic illness (Chen, 2025; Branda, 2024). As observed by Rugoho (2023), poverty, structural inequalities, colonial legacies, and resource disparities converge to create environments where access to healthcare, assistive technologies and social support systems remains severely limited.This situation exposes people with disabilities to a heightened risk of chronic illnesses. Despite constituting the majority of the global population facing neglect, poverty, and marginalisation, the experiences, knowledge, and innovations of people with disabilities in the Global South are often excluded from mainstream academic, policy, and development discourses on disability and chronic illness.
This edited volume seeks to re-center the Global South as a critical site of knowledge production and praxis on disability and chronic illness. It challenges the uncritical transfer of Euro-American theoretical models that often fail to reflect the social, political, and cultural realities of people living with disabilities and chronic illnesses in developing contexts. Instead, it promotes a decolonial rethinking of disability and chronicity one that values local epistemologies, community-based resilience, and intersectional justice.
The book also recognises that chronic illness and disability are not only medical or physical conditions but are deeply political and social phenomena. They intersect with poverty, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, age, and geography—shaping individual identities and collective struggles for recognition and justice. In the Global South, these intersections are intensified by weak health infrastructures, neoliberal austerity measures, and the impacts of global crises such as climate change, pandemics, and armed conflicts.
In addition, the increasing digitalization of health and social life presents new opportunities and risks. Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), telemedicine, and mobile health apps have the potential to enhance inclusion but can also reproduce algorithmic bias and exacerbate inequalities. The book thus engages critically with the ethics and governance of emerging digital technologies in health, calling for data justice frameworks that foreground accessibility, transparency, and the lived realities of disabled and chronically ill individuals.
Ultimately, the book positions the Global South not as a passive recipient of disability and health paradigms but as a vital contributor to global theory, ethics, and practice. By foregrounding resistance, innovation, and local agency, this collection aims to foster new conversations about the meaning of health, care, and justice in an era of uncertainty and inequality.
Proposed Themes
- Theoretical and Conceptual Perspectives
- Decolonial and Southern epistemologies in disability and chronic illness studies.
- Reframing “care” and “dependency” from African, Asian, and Latin American perspectives.
- Disability, chronic illness, and the politics of recognition. - Gender, Sexuality, and Intersectionality
- Feminist, queer, and disability intersections.
- Sexual and reproductive health rights of people with chronic illnesses and disabilities.
- Masculinities, caregiving, and chronic illness in Global South contexts. - Health Systems and Policy
- Access to healthcare, assistive technologies, and medicines.
- Disability-inclusive health systems and Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
- Chronic illness management in resource-constrained environments. - Culture, Religion, and Disability
- Traditional and spiritual interpretations of disability and chronic illness.
- Healing practices and indigenous health systems.
- Disability stigma, community resilience, and social inclusion. - Economics, Work, and Livelihoods
- Chronic illness, informal work, and precarity.
- Disability and economic empowerment in the Global South.
- Social protection, cash transfers, and sustainable livelihoods. - Advocacy, Policy, and Rights-Based Approaches
- Implementation of the UNCRPD and SDGs in the Global South.
- Civil society movements, community mobilization, and grassroots activism.
- Data justice and representation of disability and chronic illness in policy. - Digital, Environmental, and Emerging Issues
- Climate change, disability, and chronic illness.
- The digital divide: accessibility, assistive technology, and AI inclusion.
- isability, chronic illness, and pandemics (e.g., COVID-19, HIV/AIDS).
Submission Guidelines
Chapter abstracts (300–400 words) should clearly outline the research question, methodology, and contribution to the theme. Full chapters (6,000–8,000 words) must follow APA 7th referencing style. Authors should include a short biography (150 words) and institutional affiliation.
Deadline for Abstract Submission: 31 March 2026
Notification of Acceptance: 28 April 2026
Full Chapter Submission: 30 September 2026
Book submission 30 December 2026
Book Publication 2027 Submit your abstract to refilwe.morwane@gmail.com and copy zvirevo12@gmail.com