Article 30 of the CRPD as a Vehicle for Social Transformation: Harnessing the CRPD’s Potential for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

Matthew Smith and Michael Ashley Stein explore through a discussion of Article 30—Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport, of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD 2006), how theatre can be used particularly by persons with intellectual disabilities to provide unique opportunities for (re)negotiating their rights-holder status with society at large and to politically engender and support the social transformative change promised by the CRPD. The chapter discusses how three theatre groups in Bangladesh, the United States and Switzerland, create spaces for dialogue that empower theatre performers with intellectual disabilities to convey political messages to their audiences. Smith and Stein argue that Article 30 if fully harnessed provides powerful opportunities for persons with intellectual disabilities and that human rights practitioners would do well to follow such theatre groups’ lead and direct more attention to the role of theatre in the CRPD’s implementation.