Rights, justice and flourishing : the uses and limitations of human rights

The development of the discourse of human rights, first in the United Nations Charter and then in the Universal Declaration, is rightly identified as a positive step in the legal protection of the vulnerable from the unfettered actions of the powerful. The intent of the UN Charter, as stated in the Preamble, is “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.” This central valuing of the human subject, to be recognized as a human worthy of dignity and respect, has been critical for the disability rights movement and persons with disability (Kayess and French 2008). It is this promise of human rights that has driven disability rights movements to pursue an international convention—the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)—as an instrument to advance their dignity and worth as the largest minority group of the human family (Soldatic and Johnson 2019). The CRPD has received unprecedented acceptance across governments, global institutions and legal institutions. Ratification has been both rapid and extensive, defining national systems of disability governance and inclusion alongside directing international relations of global trade, development and resource exchange.