On 3/5/15, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > Send AccessIndia mailing list submissions to > [email protected] > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > [email protected] > > You can reach the person managing the list at > [email protected] > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of AccessIndia digest..." > > > Please do not reply to this digest mail. You should put your comments into a > new mail with appropriate subject line. > _______________________________________________ > AccessIndia mailing list > [email protected] > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Book Review: Human rights and disability advocacy, By Tom > Shakespeare (avinash shahi) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2015 22:48:13 +0530 > From: avinash shahi <[email protected]> > To: accessindia <[email protected]> > Subject: [AI] Book Review: Human rights and disability advocacy, By > Tom Shakespeare > Message-ID: > <cadesq2iwba_ftnrps19gwsgr71zmbcyx-41ctfc4zfgn56h...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 > > http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2014.984936#abstract > At the time of writing, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with > Disabilities is conducting an investigation of the United Kingdom > under the Optional Protocol of the Convention on the Rights of Persons > with Disabilities (CRPD). This, together with the upcoming State > reporting process, has made the UK disability movement more aware than > ever that the United Nations can play a positive role in the struggle > for disability rights. Similar processes have occurred in the other > State Parties to the Convention that have been investigated or made > their reports. Slowly, the wheels of international human rights are > turning, and advancing the disability rights agenda across the world. > This invaluable book is the first to explore the background to the > treaty and the drafting process that resulted in this innovative > Convention. Human Rights and Disability Advocacy has a stellar list of > contributors, including Ambassador Don MacKay, Professor Ron McCallum, > Liisa Kauppinen, Gerison Lansdown, and many other people who were > intimately involved in the negotiations that lead to the CRPD. > Chapters explore sectoral issues - women, children, Deaf people, > people with intellectual disabilities - as well as technical issue > about the drafting. The reader gets an insight into how choices were > made in practice - for example, Mi Yeon Kim explains the dilemma about > whether to mainstream gender throughout the CRPD or whether to have a > separate Article on women and girls. Gerison Lansdown discusses how > the opposition of national delegations to having an article > specifically on children was eventually overcome. > Civil society was involved in drafting the CRPD to a far greater > extent than in any previous international treaty, an example of what > the editors call 'the new diplomacy'. In the negotiations, the > trade-offs between different impairment groups - people with mental > health conditions, Deaf people, people with intellectual disability - > led to the accommodation of competing positions, which do not always > translate straightforwardly into policy and practice. For example, > Article 24 on education establishes a right to inclusive education, > but it does not prohibit special schools. Both sides of the debate > describe it here as a success. But is the compromise a weakness or a > strength of the CRPD? > It is both clich?d and inaccurate to say that the CRPD creates no new > rights. As many authors here state, the CRPD is legally innovative in > several ways. For example, it further develops the connection between > legal and civil rights ('freedom from') and social, cultural and > economic rights ('freedom to ...'). Not only are both approaches > contained within the same treaty, but they are also entwined within > the same articles. It is the first-ever international treaty to > mention sign language. The CRPD also enshrines the requirement to > respect difference (Article 3d), while at the same time it promotes a > strong social model understanding of disability. > The chapter by Heidi Forrest and Phillip French about the contrast > between Australian government and Australian disability movement > interventions grows a deeper understanding of the diplomacy involved. > But overall, the reader gets a strong sense of the variety of > non-governmental organisations who were lobbying hard for their > political goals, but only an occasional glimpse of the ways in which > some countries were blocking certain positions. For example, > conservative Islamic and Catholic countries blocked more liberal > formulations about sexuality and reproductive rights. Moreover, while > the tensions between disabled people's organisations inside and > outside the International Disability Caucus are a theme throughout the > book, only in the last chapter is the question of disability movement > democracy raised. An interesting underlying question is whether the > leaders of the global disability movement were truly representing the > voices of the billion disabled people in the world, particularly those > of the Global South. > There are also omissions from the CRPD, some of which are explored > here. The poorest of the poor did not have a voice in the > negotiations: Huhana Hickey contributes a powerful chapter on > indigenous people with disability, an issue absent from the CRPD with > the sole exception of the Preamble. Another group who are not > adequately discussed in the CRPD are family members of people with > disabilities: parents of disabled children, for example, or carers of > elderly people with disability. Anna MacQuarrie and Connie > Laurin-Bowie of Inclusion International here suggest that the mention > in the Preamble (paragraph x) represents a victory for families who > support people with intellectual disabilities. I would read the lack > of either a substantive Article or any mention of caregivers as a > shortcoming of the CRPD. > In conclusion, Human Rights and Disability Advocacy is an excellent > book that gives a flavour of the Treaty negotiations and will > certainly help scholars and advocates to understand the CRPD better. > However, the contributors lack the distance and objectivity needed to > generate a truly balanced critique of a Convention that in my opinion > is as frustrating as it is innovative. Above all, there is a huge gap > between having a Treaty and achieving human rights. While latter > chapters of this collection discuss monitoring CRPD implementation and > the role of National Human Rights Institutions, it is beyond the scope > of the book to discuss the impact of the CRPD in practical terms. One > of the most moving contributions to this collection is from Lex > Grandia, an advocate for deaf-blind people. His very personal chapter > concludes: > To solve the problems of poverty is very complicated: to break the > isolation will take years and years of work. Low expectations need to > be changed into images of rights and prosperity. That is what I will > try to do now. (156) > His words apply to all disabled people, not only to people who are > deaf-blind, and highlight how much there is now to be done. Sadly, Lex > Grandia died in 2012, and so it is left for the rest of us to try and > achieve his vision. > Tom Shakespeare > University of East Anglia, UK > [email protected] > (c) 2014, Tom Shakespeare > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU > > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > > > ------------------------------ > > End of AccessIndia Digest, Vol 61, Issue 336 > ******************************************** >
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