Table Of ContentHuman Rights, Disability,
and Capabilities
ChristopherA.Riddle
Human Rights,
Disability,
and Capabilities
ChristopherA.Riddle
UticaCollege
Utica,NewYork,USA
ISBN978-1-137-59992-6 ISBN978-1-137-59993-3(eBook)
DOI10.1057/978-1-137-59993-3
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ForMarissa,withoutwhomIwouldforgettonottakethingssoseriously
all thetime. You neverfail to make melaugh,and you’realways
willingto sharea pizzaatmidnight.
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book began as a series of lectures presented at the University of
Siegen in January of 2015. The first debt of gratitude I owe is thus to
the organizers of the symposium and attendees at a workshop I attended
while there: John Stewart-Gordon, John-Philippe Cobbaut, Jerome
Bickenbach,Johann-ChristianPõder, andPetrFrantik.
The material on the special importance of health and disability was the
subject of presentations at the University of Quebec at Montreal and
HokkaidaUniversity in Japan.
ThematerialondefiningdisabilitywaspresentedtoaudiencesatAERA
in SanFranciscoandat ConcordiaUniversity inMontreal.
I know I have not answered all of their questions and concerns but I
sincerelyappreciatethecareandattentionofeveryonewhotookthetime
to offertheirinsightsand expertiseintomywork.
Joshua Turner provided excellent research assistance for which I am
grateful.
Asalways,Iamgratefultomyfamilywhohasvettedmostofmyideasin
many different, and not always academic, ways. Joya and Marissa make
every day interesting and amazing. It is to Marissa that this book is
dedicated.
Earlier versionsof the materialhave appearedin printasfollows:
DisabilityandJustice:TheCapabilitiesApproachinPracticebyChristopher
A.RiddleCopyright©2014.UsedbypermissionofRowman&Littlefield
PublishingGroup.Allrightsreserved.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Riddle,C.A.“NaturalDiversityandJusticeforPeoplewithDisabilities.”In
DisabilityandtheGoodHumanLife,editedbyJeromeBickenbach,Franziska
Felder, and Barbara Schmitz, 271–299. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press,2014.©CambridgeUniversityPress2014.Reprintedwithpermission.
Medicine, Healthcare, and Philosophy, “Defining Disability: Metaphysical
Not Political,” 16 no. 3, 2013, 377–384, Christopher A. Riddle (original
copyright notice as given in the publication in which the material was
originallypublished).WithpermissionofSpringer.
Topoi,“Well-BeingandtheCapabilityofHealth,”32no.2,2013,153–160,
ChristopherA.Riddle(originalcopyrightnoticeasgiveninthepublicationin
whichthematerialwasoriginallypublished).WithpermissionofSpringer.
Christopher A. Riddle, “The Ontology of Impairment: Rethinking How
WeDefineDisability,”inEmergingPerspectivesonDisabilityStudies,2013,
PalgraveMacmillan.ReproducedwithpermissionofPalgraveMacmillan.
C
ONTENTS
1 Introduction 1
2 Declarations,Covenants, andConstitutions 5
3 DisabilityandHealth 11
4 TheSpecial Moral Importanceof Health 31
5 HumanRightsandCapabilities 47
6 Conclusion 65
Bibliography 67
Index 71
ix
CHAPTER1
Introduction
Abstract InthischapterIsetouttoexpresstheurgencyassociatedwitha
project designed to ensure the upholding of a human right to health by
promoting justice for people with disabilities. An emphasis is placed on
howubiquitousdisabilityisinourworldandhowdamagingtheeffectsof
disablingbarrierscanbeonindividuals’lives.Thegoalofthischapteristo
brieflyoutlinehowI proceedthroughthe remainder ofthe book.
Keywords Disability (cid:1) Justice (cid:1)Human rights
More than one billion people in the world are said to be living with a
disability.Approximately13.5%ofourpopulationisdisabled,andnearly
200 million of these people experience difficulty in functioning.1 This
statistic fails to take into account the large number of people living with
disabilitieswhorefusetodisclosethepresenceofimpairmentoutoffearof
stigmatization or worse, blatant discrimination. If this number appears
startling,consider thattheprevalenceof disabilityison therise andthus,
this number is only likely to grow in the near future. Our population is
aging,andassuch,morepeoplewillbecomedisabled.2Whenpairedwith
increasingratesofeconomicinequality,illhealthanddisabilityarebound
to appear more frequently. Inspired by Engels’s early observations of the
working conditions of the people of England, I have previously argued
that “education, income, and a wide variety of other factors contribute
©TheAuthor(s)2017 1
C.A.Riddle,HumanRights,Disability,andCapabilities,
DOI10.1057/978-1-137-59993-3_1
2 HUMANRIGHTS,DISABILITY,ANDCAPABILITIES
to the overall bodily health of an individual.”3 When we acknowledge
bothhowmanypeopleinsocietyareforcedtoliveindestitution,aswellas
the socialdeterminantsof health,there isgoodreason forgreatconcern.
Theseobservationsandtheresultingconcernsitattheheartofthisbook.
I argue that the widespread presence of disabling barriers and poor living
conditionsresultinginbadhealtharenotsimplyconcernsofjustice.Surely
theeconomicinequalitiesthat resultindisabilityorstemfromitspresence
areissuesofjustice.Thatsaid,Itaketheseandothersimilarinjusticestobe
special cases of justice. I take the high levels of untreated impairment and
the disabling barriers present in society to constitution a special kind of
inequality: a violation of human rights. I argue that when conceptualized
properly,weoughttoregardthepresenceofdisablingbarriersasahuman
rightsissue,tobeaddressedwithalltheseriousnessthataccompaniesmore
commonandlesscontestedhumanrightsviolations.
Part of the aim of this book is to produce an account of human rights
that is rich enough to capture the need expressed by those living with
disabilities,whilealsorootingaclaimtohumanrightswithinamuchwider
concern for justice. Thus, more broadly, I aim to defend the capabilities
approach to justice as being an ideal answer to Economist Amartya Sen’s
compelling question: “Equality of what?”4 While I have previously been
critical of this understanding of justice, I nonetheless remain convinced
that it is the strongest conceptualization offered.5 I suggest that any
adequate conception of justice must be capable of acknowledging that a
subset of justice-based rights exist, and must be rooted in principles that
defendtheprioritizationanddefenseofthesehumanrights.
I set out to achieve this end in the following manner. In the second
chapter, “Declarations, Covenants, and Constitutions,” I examine the
historical basis for considering disability a human rights issue. I explore
thedevelopmentoflegislationdesignedtopromoteandprotecttherights
of peoplewithdisabilities.
In“HealthandDisability,”Idefendtworelativelycontentiousclaims.
First, that disability is best viewed as an interaction between impairment
and disabling barriers. Second, that when properly conceptualized, dis-
abilityandhealthcanberegardedsimilarly.Isuggestthatdisabilityought
to be regardedasa decrementinhealth.
In the next chapter, “The Special Moral Importance of Health,”
I advance the claim that ill health or the presence of disabling barriers
shouldbeofspecialconcern.Isuggestthatillhealthresultsindisadvantage
thatdiffersnot onlyindegree,but intype,fromother injustices.Inshort,
