Pre-1990, communist regimes imposed rules that have long-lasting effects on disability policies and disabled people’s lives in Central and Eastern Europe (Phillips, 2011; Rasell & Iarskaia-Smirnova 2013; Mladenov 2019). Despite the impact of the disabled people’s social movement (DPM) on modern liberal democracies (e.g. progressive legal capacity laws, accessibility standards for the built environment and services, inclusive education policies, deinstitutionalisation and community-based social services etc.) social movement studies and political science mostly ignore this field globally, and also in the post-socialist region. Progress in disability rights policies is stalling in the region (Mladenov & Petri, 2020). There is robust evidence about ‘democratic backsliding’ (e.g. Cianetti, 2018) and right-wing populism across CEE, however, studies are lacking about the DPM’s position vis-á-vis populist governments, how DPMs influence present-day politics in CEE, or how they fight for human rights-compliant public policies.

Our study explores the current position of the DPM in public policy-making in Central and Eastern Europe. The project focuses on four countries: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Serbia. During the workshop we will present preliminary findings of the cross-national study, with more detailed reflections about the Serbian disability movement. Our findings suggest that disability movements have very limited influence on public policies in the region.

Gabor Petri is currently postdoctoral researcher at the Central European University. He has worked over 20 years at different disability and mental health advocacy organisations in Hungary and internationally. His research interests include the disabled people’s social movement, disability human rights, post-socialist disability policies and community-based services. His upcoming co-edited book (with Stephen Meyers and Megan McCloskey) will be published by Routledge, titled ‘Hierarchies of Disability Human Rights’.

Radoš Keravica is a disabled researcher from Serbia and a doctoral candidate and teaching fellow at the University of Leeds, Centre for Disability Studies in the School of Sociology and Social Policy. He holds a master’s degree in human rights law from the Central European University and a master degree in international economics from the University of Novi Sad. His doctoral research project uses socio-legal analysis and focuses on disabled children’s participation in healthcare decision-making in the context of impairment-related elective orthopaedic treatments. It further explores the relationship between the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) in the area of child participation. He serves as a Board Member of the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL). Prior to joining academia Rados worked as Disability Rights Specialists for the UN Country Team in Serbia.

Lazar Stefanović is a PhD candidate at at the Dept. for European, International and Comparative Law at the University of Vienna. His focus is on how and why states obey international human rights law.