Teodor Mladenov
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The introductory chapter sets the stage by stating the book’s main argument – that the disabled people’s Independent Living movement helps understand freedom as a specific form of interdependence. It is claimed that this makes Independent Living a powerful approach for critical theorising on freedom/independence. The author then discusses his positionality by recounting some formative encounters with professional power and its critiques during the early years of Bulgarian postsocialism. The chapter proceeds by exploring the disciplinary foundations of the book through a discussion of the tensions and synergies between critical theory, (postsocialist) disability studies, and disability activism. This is followed by a brief history of Independent Living, from the mobilisations of disabled activists in the United States in the 1960s, through the struggles of the European pioneers and the founding of the European Network on Independent Living in 1989, to the current global spread of the movement. Independent Living is then considered as a theory rooted in practice. It is understood as an organically emerging wisdom about the supports and accommodations needed for the everyday exercise of freedom/independence and conceptualised by activists as the ‘pillars of Independent Living’. The discussion synthesises without being totalising – internal tensions within the movement are also highlighted. The chapter finishes with a summary of the key arguments and contributions of the book, complemented by an overview of the subsequent chapters.

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