On 3/5/15, SHIVKUMAR RAWAT <[email protected]> wrote: > On 3/5/15, SHIVKUMAR RAWAT <[email protected]> wrote: >> 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 >>> ******************************************** >>> >> >> >> -- >> skr >> s.k.rs.k.r >> > > > -- > skr > s.k.rs.k.r >
-- skr s.k.rs.k.r Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in 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..
