Critical Disability Studies in Kenya

Abstract This article provides an analytic review of tensions related to selected elements of Critical Disability Studies in communities and inclusive schools in rural western Kenya. While recognizing that inclusive education is a Western framework that must be cautiously engaged in non‑Western contexts, the article shows that Critical Disability Studies–informed approaches can be impactful when they are locally grounded, relational, and developed through sustained community partnership. Drawing on their ongoing Critical Disability Studies–informed and community‑based participatory research since 2010, the authors situate their work within historical and contemporary African scholarship on disability and inclusive education, foregrounding colonial legacies, poverty, and neoliberal education reforms shaping schooling in the region. The article examines four interconnected aspects of Critical Disability Studies in practice: (a) the role of language in CDS‑informed research, (b) identifying and resisting colonialism in schools, (c) engaging communities as foundations for resourceful, bottom‑up approaches to inclusive education, and (d) promoting traditional forms of knowledge and communal interconnectedness within teacher education. Through critical reflection on their collaborative work, the authors highlight the ethical and decolonial implications of applying Critical Disability Studies in Kenya and illustrate how Western disability concepts are negotiated, resisted, and reworked in meaningful, locally relevant ways.