Decolonial feminist analysis of personal assistance policies in EU member states

Personal Assistance (PA) is a human right that enables the independent living of people with disabilities who have historically embodied epistemic injustice in their bodies and life trajectories as a result of a Eurocentric, colonial, ableist and heteropatriarchal model of development shaping the world’s re/productive functioning. Decolonial feminism, as a Latin American political movement, brings epistemic injustice, community participation and alternative economies to the centre of the debate. Building on these insights, this paper moves beyond Eurocentric framings of PA by bringing Latin American reflections and practices on decolonial feminism and care into dialogue with European Union’s (EU) PA policies. Through a benchmarking analysis, the paper examines how current PA arrangements reproduce or contest epistemic injustice – particularly in terms of who defines care needs, who participates in decision-making and whose knowledge is recognized as legitimate. The findings show that, while PA is formally established in most EU member states, its implementation varies widely in ways that reveal persistent hierarchies of knowledge and participation. By illuminating these tensions, the decolonial feminist framework exposes the limits of dominant policy models and highlights alternative, community-rooted possibilities for PA that hold relevance for both Europe and Latin America.