This volume recognizes the importance of an informed cross-cultural understanding of the policies and practices of different societies within the field of disability, human rights and education. It represents an attempt to critically engage with issues arising from the historical and contemporary domination of portrayals of the western as advanced, democratic and exemplary, in contrast to the construction of the rest of the world as backward, primitive and inferior in thses fundamental areas. How human rights are understood in different contexts is a key theme in this book. Some contributors raise questions about the value of a human rights model across all societies. Others see the struggle for human rights as at the heart of the struggle for an inclusive society. The implications for education arising from this debate are identified. and a series of questions are raised by each author for further reflection and discussion as well as providing a stimulus for developing future research.