Gulf Education and Social Policy Review

Call for Papers

Widening the Lens: Disability Studies Discourse in the Middle East

A Special Issue of the Gulf Education and Social Policy Review (GESPR)

Guest Editor

Dr. Sarah K. Benson, University of Birmingham Dubai

Aims and Scope

As countries throughout the Gulf and wider Middle East advance towards more equitable education systems and recognition of rights-based definitions of disability through evolving policies, practices, and discourse (Alrudayni, 2025; Al-Shammari & Mintz, 2023; Sargent, 2021), what is often neglected is the study of disability* and neurodiversities in wider community settings. Disability studies have long advocated for less American and Eurocentric understandings and to create space for different ways to conceptualise disability (Goodley et al., 2019; Waldschmidt, 2017). The interdisciplinary field of disability studies has brought more nuance through intersectional understandings of disability, pushing scholarship to learn from and alongside individuals with disabilities rather than centring those individuals as the object of research (Goodley et al., 2019). The necessity of a wider lens on disability is apparent as we recognise both the significant proportion of the global population that is disabled and the valuable insights continually revealed through research and advocacy by disabled individuals.

Within the Gulf and wider Middle Eastern region, changes have been taking place; yet there remains a heavy focus on the medicalisation of disability (Balogova & Szot, 2020). This is both an academic and a community phenomenon that continues to focus on medical treatment of neurodiversities and physical or sensory impairments (see Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies). As has been demonstrated through history and scholarship, focusing on medical impairments rather than structural biases forces people with disabilities to the margins in their lived realities as well as academic and cultural structures (Zaks, 2024). By focusing on the impairment, societies reinforce a message of fixing individuals to meet normative ideals. Over the years, these medicalised notions have been disputed and entered political, personal, and academic debates focused on the nuances of being disabled. Disability Studies as a field has been critical of both models of disability, finding them limiting and closely bound up with Westernised ideas.

This special issue sets out to challenge these narrow concepts of disability; instead, the goal is the consideration of persons with disabilities and neurodiversities as community members in business, religious communities, the arts, and higher education. This approach to disability is not new. In fact, as scholar Sara Scalenghe (2018) demonstrates, historically, individuals with disabilities and neurodiversities were once integral to the fabric of life within the region. This historical precedent provides a foundation for contemporary efforts to restore more inclusive communities. Indeed, in the last ten years within the region, there has not only been political change through disability rights legislation but also a social movement towards normalising disability in more spaces (Benson, in press).

Building on this move to reconceptualise disability away from a medical or familial burden to a normalised human condition, Widening the Lens: Disability Studies Discourse in the Middle East seeks articles that meet the following aims:

• Intersections of disabled identities: Articles exploring the intersections of age, race, gender, or
• Arts and disability: Research focused on the lived experiences of artists with disabilities or the impact of the arts for inclusion, awareness, or exposure. Articles focused on art as therapy or medical treatment will not be considered.
• Communities, families and relationships: Understanding that disability and neurodiversity are lifelong ways of being, we encourage researchers and authors to submit work focusing on the experiences of adults with neurodiversities and disabilities in the community, as family members and partners.
• Language and representation of disability: The evolution of language to discuss disability changes rapidly. Discourse on these changes within the region is limited, but because of the highly contested and important ways language shapes understanding, exploring these trends is crucial.
• Religious and cultural inclusion: Given the importance of religion and tradition within local communities, articles that examine these influences on the participation, perception and acceptance of disability within religious and traditional structures are encouraged.
• Legal, rights-based, and policy perspectives: While policies and laws concerning people with disabilities are prevalent across the region, their impact is often limited. Explorations of the legal and policy landscape or examinations of how rights-based perspectives have been shaped are of particular interest.

GESPR maintains high standards of academic excellence and rigour in article selection; thus, all papers must meet
academic standards. However, it is important to acknowledge the barriers that academics and researchers with disabilities face in higher education and the publishing world (e.g. Alshammari, 2024). Therefore, autoethnographies and non-traditional academic articles will be considered.

Letter of Intent

To ensure alignment with the special issue theme, all prospective authors are required to submit a letter of intent prior to full manuscript submission. The editors will review each letter of intent to determine scope, fit, and thematic balance across the issue. Your letter of intent should include the following:

• Tentative manuscript title
• Full names, affiliations, and contact details for all authors (identify the corresponding author)
• A working abstract (150–200 words) outlining the paper’s purpose, scope, and contribution
• Indication of the themaCc cluster your paper aligns with
• A brief (2–3 sentence) rationale for how the manuscript contributes to the overarching theme of
  Widening the Lens: Disability Studies Discourse in the Middle East

All letters of intent will be reviewed after the deadline closes, and authors whose proposals are selected for inclusion will be notified within two weeks of the deadline. Only authors whose proposals are accepted will be invited to submit a full manuscript. Nevertheless, proposals that demonstrate strong potential but are not selected for inclusion in the special issue due to thematic fit or space limitations may be invited for consideration in a future general issue of the Gulf Education and Social Policy Review. In such cases, authors will be contacted directly by the editorial team with the option to submit their manuscript for peer review under the journal’s regular submission track.

Please submit your letter of intent via email to gespr@alqasimifoundation.rak.ae

Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts should follow the GESPR Author Guidelines and APA 7th edition referencing style.

• Length: 5,000–8,000 words (inclusive of all references, tables, and figures)
• Abstract: 150–250 words, with 5-7 keywords
• All submissions will be double-blind, peer-reviewed

Key Dates

Letter of Intent Deadline: January 15, 2026
Full manuscript deadline: April 31, 2026
Peer review: May 2025 to September 2026
Anticipated publication: December 2026

*While the editor and journal acknowledge the local terminology of ‘persons of determination,’ the term disability is used in this call as it is a regional and global call for papers where disability is the more recognised term. In addition, individuals with disabilities advocate for the use of disability instead of euphemisms to call attention to the neutrality of disability in the human experience. Authors may defer to their own cultural and linguistic preferences in submissions, provided all language is rooted in respect and dignity.

References:

Goodley et al., 2019; Balogova & Szot, 2020; Zaks, 2024

Alrudayni, M. (2025). Moving towards inclusive education: Policy evolution in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Educational Research, 130, 102501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2024.102501

Alshammari, S. (2024). Writing and righting disability representation: autoethnographic reflection. Disability & Society, 40(3), 817–820. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2024.2368560

Al-Shammari, Z.N. & Mintz, J. (2023) The scope for using international indicators of inclusive education in Kuwait and GCC countries: A preliminary study involving special education teachers. British Journal of Special Education, 50, 344–354. Available from: heps://doi-org/10.1111/1467-8578.12473

Balogova, B., & Szot, L. (2020). Selected Socio-Cultural Aspects of Disability in the Arab World-Sociological Approach. Czech & Slovak Social Work/Sociální Práce/Sociálna Práca, 20(4).

Goodley, D., Lawthom, R., Liddiard, K., & Runswick-Cole, K. (2019). Provocations for critical disability studies. Disability & Society, 34(6), 972-997. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2019.1566889

Sargent, C. (2021). Disability rights in the Middle East: Opportunities and obstacles. Current History, 120(830), 346-352. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2021.120.830.346

Scalenghe, S. (2018). Disability in the premodern Arab world. In M. Rembis, C. Kudlick, & K. E. Nielsen (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of disability history (pp. 71-84). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190234959.013.5

Waldschmidt, A. (2017). Disability goes cultural: The cultural model of disability as an analytical tool. In A. Waldschmidt, H. Berressem, & M. Ingwersen (Eds.), Culture – Theory – Disability: Encounters between disability studies and cultural studies (pp. 19-28). Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839425336-003

Zaks, Z. (2024). Changing the medical model of disability to the normalization model of disability: Clarifying the past to create a new future direction. Disability & Society, 39(12), 3233-3260.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2023.2255926