Building access: Universal design and the politics of disability

Hamraie reconstructs universal design through disability activism, architectural standards, feminist thought and rights-based politics. The book’s EDI contribution is to show that access is never a purely technical property: definitions of the user, independence and normality are shaped by institutions and social movements. It also demonstrates that universal claims can conceal racialised, gendered and classed assumptions. This matters for design because standards and checklists are necessary but cannot substitute for political analysis or the knowledge of disabled people. By treating access as contested and historically produced, the book enables designers to examine who defines universality and whose bodies remain outside it. It is essential for connecting inclusive design practice with disability justice and critical histories of the built environment.