Author: Satadipa Chatterjee, Vishal Chakraborty, Debarpita Marik

Abstract: This paper aims to explore how the idea of disability has been historically constructed, structured and concretized throughout history through myths, cultural practices and literary narratives and how in the contemporary era the notion of disability is questioned, interpreted and somewhat reinterpreted. Rather than understanding disability as merely a biological or medical condition, Disability Studies reinforces that societies actively produce meanings around bodily difference. This study takes the texts from ancient to postmodern works chronologically as its main reference. The main framework of the study is portrayed by The Disability Studies by Ed Robert and Irving Kenneth Zola along with the theory of Ideological State Apparatus by Louis Althusser and Michael Foucault’s idea of biopower.

Keywords: Biopower, Disability, Evolution, Inclusivity, ISA

Article Info: Received: 19 Mar 2026; Received in revised form: 17 Apr 2026; Accepted: 22 Apr 2026; Available online: 26 Apr 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.112.82