ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the obverse possibility, namely whether the capabilities approach is sufficient to adequately justify both distributive claims and human rights. It supports the idea that the language of capabilities is often best placed to fill out the missing details that are needed to interpret and define the scope of human rights. Human rights conventions express an unequivocal commitment to equal status, which cannot be adequately captured in the language of capabilities. The chapter analyses the limitations of the capabilities approach suggesting that in order to advance their claims, people with disabilities should deploy independent human rights and justice arguments. It argues that the language of capabilities is not able to do adequate justice to the demands of dignity, understood as the enjoyment of equal status. The chapter suggests that people with disabilities should be theoretically liberal in pursuing their entitlements, picking up on both distributive justice and human rights claims as they can.
