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Harding, Rosie --- "Equality, social justice and older people" [2018] ELECD 1193; in Doron, Israel; Georgantzi, Nena (eds), "Ageing, Ageism and the Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 15

Book Title: Ageing, Ageism and the Law

Editor(s): Doron, Israel; Georgantzi, Nena

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781788972109

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: Equality, social justice and older people

Author(s): Harding, Rosie

Number of pages: 22

Abstract/Description:

This chapter explores the concepts of equality and social justice for older people in the context of arguments for and against the need for a new Convention on the Rights of Older Persons. I interrogate the effectiveness of different theoretical approaches to equality (equality of resources, equality of recognition, equality of power and equality of condition) that could underpin arguments about the need for new international human rights protection for older people. In evaluating each of these ‘equality’ based approaches, I demonstrate why each falls short as a justification for a new Convention. In response to the limitations of an equality approach, I argue that we need to turn towards an understanding of social justice for older people, and suggest that a capabilities approach, building on the work of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, offers the most persuasive conceptual basis for a new Convention. I argue that the capabilities approach, which requires not only the discursive and rhetorical enunciation of rights but also their substantive realization, is the most effective way to understand and progress equality and social justice for older people.