From 20th November through December, we’re marking Disability History Month here at the SSL. The 2025 theme, “Disability, Life and Death,” addresses concerns about the Assisted Suicide legislation currently making its way through Parliament, and the risks it poses for disabled people. The Disability History Month website situates this legislation within a longer history of threats to disabled people’s right to life; from eugenics and lifelong institutionalisation to the mass murder campaigns of the Nazis. In an increasingly hostile environment for disabled people in the UK, this year’s theme invites reflection on the “value of disabled people’s lives”.
At the Social Science Library, we’ve created a book display exploring this theme in books across the Social Science subjects. This selection highlights both the historical and contemporary challenges disabled people have faced, including discrimination, persecution, and state violence, while also honouring their lives, agency, and contributions in activism, academia, and the arts. Alongside titles from the SSL’s own collections, we’ve included works from the Collections Storage Facility. Some items can be borrowed, while others are for use in the library only; please ask a member of staff if you’re unsure.
In addition to our physical display, Oxford University staff and students can access ebooks from the display through SOLO. For more material on disability history, take a look at the Disability History LibGuide here: Home – Disability History Resources – Oxford LibGuides at Oxford University
