Social Rights and the Relational Value of the Rights to Participate in Sport, Recreation, and Play

Abstract:     
This article considers the contributions of the CRPD to the development of social rights. More specifically, it tracks the normative content of the social rights to participate in sport, recreation and play and considers the relationship of these rights to the substantive equality vision reflected in the Convention. The article begins by charting the paradigmatic shift from a medical model of disability to a social model and ultimately to a rights-oriented understanding of disability that makes possible an equality approach to dismantling persistent disability discrimination and social marginalization, isolation, and exclusion. Next, it analyzes the conceptual framework for social rights in the CRPD and the connection between State obligations to eliminate disability discrimination and social rights’ guarantees for equal participation in sport, recreation, leisure and play. It further considers the content of CRPD’s Article 30(5). Finally, it explores the implications of these rights for the expressive and socializing effects of the Convention.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 30

Keywords: disability, sports, human rights, economic, social and cultural rights

Accepted Paper Series