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experience. I am going to propose one such view. The view I propose uses an account of
democracy that has some support among democratic theorists and an account of human
rights that has not been proposed by human rights theorists.
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When theoretically integrated,
they entail the method of their own criticism, a criticism informed by engagement with the
struggles and wishes of those disadvantaged by exploitable hierarchies.
II. Feminist Curb Cuts & Critical Theory
The theoretical and empirical relationship between democracy and human rights is a
“feminist” question in the sense that I describe to my students as “curb cut feminism.” Curb
cut feminism follows the activist model of the Americans with Disabilities movement and
begins with the experience of those most affected by a situation (the inability to cross a street
or go up even just a couple of steps) and involves them in the design of the solution (curb
cuts facilitate crossing the street; access ramps of a certain incline and location increase the
mobility of those in wheelchairs; automatic doors, multiple access points, and clearly
indicated wheelchair accessible routes further enable mobility). While designed with
attention to those in wheelchairs, the curb cuts, access ramps, automatic doors, and multiple
access points enhance the mobility of others as well. Those pushing strollers and delivery
dollies, those carrying lots of books, and those recovering from an injury for example are all
able to move more freely. Beginning with those most affected, we are able to see and
understand a broad range of mobility challenges and to design solutions that enable greater
freedom of movement for all. Further, the ramifications of improved mobility are felt far
beyond the initial focus of freedom of movement for those whose mobility is most
challenged. For example, in the United States, with reliable and predictable wheelchair
access, parents with children whose age or ability require them to be in strollers are able to
bring their children to museums (and a range of other venues) to further their early
childhood education. Older people are afforded similar opportunities despite declining
mobility.
Curb cut feminists begin with gender analysis of political, social, and economic
conditions and processes. This analysis reveals the ways in which political, social, and
economic contexts impede, exclude, ignore, or marginalize some women, not all women,
and not only women. Feminist analysis generates empirical and theoretical insights for
understanding the struggles and wishes of those disadvantaged by hierarchies that affect
political, social and economic processes, thus enabling all of society to understand these
better.
In the study of democracy and human rights, curb cut feminist inquiry assumes that to
understand the theoretical and empirical relationship between democracy and human rights,
we need to know women’s experience of democracy and human rights. Women’s experiences
and theoretical insights (however articulated) are the starting point of our inquiry.
Understanding women’s exclusions from or inequalities within democracy and revealing
women’s previously invisible human rights violations (because they often differ in kind and
location from men’s human rights violations) opens up theoretical and practical avenues for
promoting the democratic participation and human rights of all of humanity. This “curb cut”
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My approach is, however, consistent with Alkire’s attempt to operationalize ySen’s capability ethic in Valuing
Freedoms (2002). On the operationalization of the capabilities ethic in the UN Development Reports see Fukuda-Parr
(2003). For a critique of the emphasis on freedom for evaluating well-being and social development see Gasper and van
Staveren (2003).
Convention