Mental disability, human rights and the capabilities approach: Searching for the foundations

Abstract

Those seeking to improve the well-being of individuals with disabilities worldwide often draw on the idea of human rights. More recently, a variety of international human rights legislation such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has come into force worldwide. The present article aims to ground human rights of people with disabilities such as those in the CRPD in a theory of social justice called the capabilities approach (CA). This article discusses the reasons for grounding rights in a theory of justice, the links between the CA and human rights, the central concern for disability and individuals with disabilities in the CA, and seven central components of the CA.

Acknowledgements

A version of this paper was presented at the joint seminar of the King's Institute of Psychiatry and Faculty of Law. The author wishes to thank Enrica Chiappero Martinetti (Pavia) and Richard Smith (LSHTM). Some of the material in this article was drawn from papers being jointly written with each respectively.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.