Disability and Disadvantage in the Capabilities Approach

2020 ◽  
pp. 228-244
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Riddle
Keyword(s):  
Distributive Justice ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Capabilities Approach

This chapter argues that within the realm of justice, not all goods or opportunities are the same—a failure to secure some goods results in mere disadvantage, while a failure to secure other goods results in corrosive disadvantage. If a disadvantage adversely impacts one’s ability to secure other goods or opportunities, we should regard it as being corrosive in nature and thus give it higher priority within a theory of distributive justice. This chapter suggests that with respect to the capabilities approach, an understanding of disadvantage that recognizes the often-corrosive nature of the experience of disability would require us to prioritize some capabilities over others. More pointedly, a capability theorist’s refusal to acknowledge the need to prioritize some capabilities over others is a failing of basic justice and would result in the compounding of injustice against people with disabilities.

Restitution and Distributive Justice

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
George F. DeMartino ◽  
Jonathan D. Moyer
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Economic Justice ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Normative Theory ◽  
Recent Scholarship

This chapter explores the extent of consensus and disagreement among alternative contemporary accounts of justice on the matter of the kinds of events that might warrant restitution and, consequently, the computation of the magnitude of restitution. The goal is not to adjudicate the relevant normative controversies, but rather to illustrate the significance of normative theory for the restitution project. For purposes of demonstration, the chapter focuses on three important traditions in the recent scholarship on economic justice: the libertarian tradition of political philosophy, the liberal contractarian approach, and the capabilities approach. This focus shows that normative controversy surrounding the concept of justice bears heavily on considerations pertaining to restitution.

scholarly journals Fairness in transport policy: A new approach to applying distributive justice theories

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Randal ◽  
C Shaw ◽  
A Woodward ◽  
P Howden-Chapman ◽  
A Macmillan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Transport System ◽  
Conversion Factor ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Transport Policy ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Wide Range

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The transport system influences everyone’s wellbeing on a daily basis. These impacts are both positive and negative and are borne directly and indirectly at a range of spatial and temporal scales and across different groups in society. Furthermore, they are often distributed unfairly and the people who are least able to use transport networks frequently bear the greatest costs. People also have various transport needs and these needs change throughout their lives. Due to these complexities, there is no straightforward answer as to how we should provide transport fairly. Policies and actions to decarbonise the transport system are urgently needed, but their equity effects are also important. We give a brief overview of distributive justice and equity in transport literature. We then develop a conceptual framework of distributive justice and a set of four principles to guide the application of the framework to transport policy. We then apply these to recent transport policies in Aotearoa/New Zealand, a country that shares common features with most highly motorised countries. We apply the Capabilities Approach to transport policy in a novel way that conceptualises transport policy as a social conversion factor which influences people’s ability to convert resources and opportunities into the things (‘beings and doings’) that they have reason to value. The consideration of transport policy as a conversion factor, rather than focusing on a specific capability, emphasises the role of transport policy as a promoter of a wide range of capabilities and highlights the inequitable distribution of positive and negative effects on people’s health and wellbeing. It also illuminates issues of power structures and procedural fairness in transport policy that are otherwise not covered by distributive justice approaches. Taking a broader view of distributive justice theory in transport provides a clearer picture of the impacts of transport on wellbeing and provides theory-based guidance on the actions to improve transport justice that can be readily integrated into existing policy institutions.

scholarly journals Fairness in transport policy: A new approach to applying distributive justice theories

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Randal ◽  
C Shaw ◽  
A Woodward ◽  
P Howden-Chapman ◽  
A Macmillan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Transport System ◽  
Conversion Factor ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Transport Policy ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Wide Range

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The transport system influences everyone’s wellbeing on a daily basis. These impacts are both positive and negative and are borne directly and indirectly at a range of spatial and temporal scales and across different groups in society. Furthermore, they are often distributed unfairly and the people who are least able to use transport networks frequently bear the greatest costs. People also have various transport needs and these needs change throughout their lives. Due to these complexities, there is no straightforward answer as to how we should provide transport fairly. Policies and actions to decarbonise the transport system are urgently needed, but their equity effects are also important. We give a brief overview of distributive justice and equity in transport literature. We then develop a conceptual framework of distributive justice and a set of four principles to guide the application of the framework to transport policy. We then apply these to recent transport policies in Aotearoa/New Zealand, a country that shares common features with most highly motorised countries. We apply the Capabilities Approach to transport policy in a novel way that conceptualises transport policy as a social conversion factor which influences people’s ability to convert resources and opportunities into the things (‘beings and doings’) that they have reason to value. The consideration of transport policy as a conversion factor, rather than focusing on a specific capability, emphasises the role of transport policy as a promoter of a wide range of capabilities and highlights the inequitable distribution of positive and negative effects on people’s health and wellbeing. It also illuminates issues of power structures and procedural fairness in transport policy that are otherwise not covered by distributive justice approaches. Taking a broader view of distributive justice theory in transport provides a clearer picture of the impacts of transport on wellbeing and provides theory-based guidance on the actions to improve transport justice that can be readily integrated into existing policy institutions.

scholarly journals Fairness in Transport Policy: A New Approach to Applying Distributive Justice Theories

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 10102
Author(s):  
Edward Randal ◽  
Caroline Shaw ◽  
Alistair Woodward ◽  
Philippa Howden-Chapman ◽  
Alex Macmillan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Transport System ◽  
Conversion Factor ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Transport Policy ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Wide Range

The transport system influences everyone’s wellbeing on a daily basis. These impacts are both positive and negative and are borne directly and indirectly at a range of spatial and temporal scales and across different groups in society. Furthermore, they are often distributed unfairly and the people who are least able to use transport networks frequently bear the greatest costs. People also have various transport needs and these needs change throughout their lives. Due to these complexities, there is no straightforward answer as to how we should provide transport fairly. Policies and actions to decarbonise the transport system are urgently needed, but their equity effects are also important. We give a brief overview of distributive justice and equity in transport literature. We then develop a conceptual framework of distributive justice and a set of four principles to guide the application of the framework to transport policy. We then apply these to recent transport policies in Aotearoa/New Zealand, a country that shares common features with most highly motorised countries. We apply the Capabilities Approach to transport policy in a novel way that conceptualises transport policy as a social conversion factor which influences people’s ability to convert resources and opportunities into the things (‘beings and doings’) that they have reason to value. The consideration of transport policy as a conversion factor, rather than focusing on a specific capability, emphasises the role of transport policy as a promoter of a wide range of capabilities and highlights the inequitable distribution of positive and negative effects on people’s health and wellbeing. It also illuminates issues of power structures and procedural fairness in transport policy that are otherwise not covered by distributive justice approaches. Taking a broader view of distributive justice theory in transport provides a clearer picture of the impacts of transport on wellbeing and provides theory-based guidance on the actions to improve transport justice that can be readily integrated into existing policy institutions.

Natural Deficiency or Social Oppression? The Capabilities Approach to Justice for People with Disabilities

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Barclay
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Distributive Justice ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Personal Attributes ◽  
Social Oppression ◽  
Conceptual Resources

Theories of distributive justice are often criticised for either excluding people with disabilities from the domain of justice altogether, or casting them as deficient in personal attributes. I argue that the capabilities approach to justice is largely immune to these flaws. It has the conceptual resources to locate most of the causes of disadvantage in the interaction between a person and her environment and in doing so can characterise the disadvantages of disability in a way that avoids the imputation of natural deficiency. However, I also argue that the capabilities approach cannot accommodate some of the stronger claims advanced by some disability scholars. No plausible capabilities approach can guarantee that social change will always be the just or fair remedy for disadvantage, and there is a small number of severe cases of disability where capability shortfalls will be attributed to the person’s ‘deficient’ physical and mental impairments.

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