10 Principles of Disability Justice

Sins Invalid’s “10 Principles of Disability Justice” condenses a movement genealogy into a usable political framework. Disability justice emerged because a rights-based model centered on formal access and legal equality did not fully describe the lives of disabled people who were also Black, Indigenous, people of color, queer, trans, poor, incarcerated, migrant, or otherwise targeted. The principles begin with intersectionality and leadership by those most impacted, then connect disability to anti-capitalism, cross-movement solidarity, recognition of wholeness, sustainability, cross-disability solidarity, interdependence, collective access, and collective liberation.

Taken together, these commitments change the unit of analysis. Accommodation is no longer a private adjustment granted to one individual after a request; access becomes a shared practice designed into how people meet, communicate, work, rest, organize, and survive. The framework also challenges capitalist definitions of worth based on productivity and independence. Sustainability asks movements not to consume organizers’ bodyminds in the name of urgency, while interdependence rejects both the fantasy of self-sufficiency and the paternalism that treats disabled people as passive recipients of care.

The list is concise by design, so it should be read as an orientation rather than a complete history or implementation manual. Its value lies in the questions it makes unavoidable: Who sets the pace? Whose knowledge leads? Does a campaign trade one group’s safety for another’s acceptance? Are access needs anticipated collectively or extracted through repeated disclosure? For feminist groups, classrooms, cultural institutions, and workplaces, these principles provide a standard more demanding than diversity language. Inclusion means transforming power, labor, time, space, and communication so that liberation is built from the experiences of people most likely to be abandoned.