The Right to ‘Inclusive’ Education

Abstract

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has introduced a new right in international human rights law: the right to inclusive education. What the ‘inclusive’ component of this right stands for is however unclear, with the result that a narrow approach to inclusion has taken priority. In order to counter this narrow approach, this article makes the normative case for advancing a particular understanding of inclusive education that moves beyond existing interpretations of the CRPD's provisions. It constructs a conceptual framework based on Fraser's recognition theory, arguing that the principle of ‘participatory parity’ orientates the right to inclusive education towards stressing the importance of offering all children equal consideration throughout the education system. This has implications not only for the fulfilment of legal obligations but also for how international human rights law can actually be used to combat inequalities.