Conclusion

Abstract

In this final chapter, Kelley Johnson and Emily Julia Kakoullis discuss a number of overarching themes emerging from the contributors’ chapters to the book. These themes are: the complexity and diversity of cultures into which the CRPD is interpreted and translated; the diversity of ways in which the concept of ‘disability’ is defined and constituted within and between cultures, and how this affects the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD 2006); the particular significance of individual provisions of the CRPD in different cultures; and lastly, the importance of the CRPD in supporting persons with disabilities to work for change. The chapter concludes with an exploration of the implications of these themes for the achievement of the CRPD in providing a ‘checklist of relevant rights and obligations’ and a description of ‘a good life’ for persons with disabilities, and the CRPD’s transformative potential in various cultural contexts.