David Crocker | University of Maryland (original) (raw)

Papers by David Crocker

<jats:p>Development ethics is ethical reflection on the ends and means of socioeconomic cha... more <jats:p>Development ethics is ethical reflection on the ends and means of socioeconomic change in poor countries and regions. It has several sources: criticism of colonialism and post-Second World War development strategies; Denis Goulet's writings; Anglo-American philosophical debates about the ethics of famine relief; and Paul Streeten's and Amartya Sen's approaches to development.</jats:p> <jats:p>Development ethicists agree that the moral dimension of development theory and practice is just as important as the scientific and policy components. What is often called 'development' – economic growth, for instance – may be bad for people, communities and the environment. Hence, the process of development should be reconceived as beneficial change, usually specified as alleviating human misery and environmental degradation in poor countries.</jats:p> <jats:p>Development ethicists do not yet agree on whether their ethical reflection should extend to destitution in rich countries or aspects of North–South relations apart from development aid. Other unresolved controversies concern the status and content of substantive development norms. Finally, agreement does not yet exist as to how the benefits of and responsibilities for development should be distributed within and between countries.</jats:p>

Human Development in Times of Crisis, 2017

Agency and Democracy in Development Ethics, 2019

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2008

This page intentionally left blank Ethics of Global Development Poverty, inequality, violence, en... more This page intentionally left blank Ethics of Global Development Poverty, inequality, violence, environmental degradation, and tyranny continue to afflict the world. Ethics of Global Development offers moral reflection on the ends and means of local, national, and global efforts to overcome these five scourges. After emphasizing the role of ethics in development studies, policymaking, and practice, David A. Crocker analyzes and evaluates Amartya Sen's philosophy of development in relation to alternative ethical outlooks. He argues that Sen's recent turn to robust ideals of human agency and democracy improves on both Sen's earlier emphasis on "capabilities and functionings" and Martha Nussbaum's version of the capability orientation. This agency-focused capability approach is then extended and strengthened by applying it to the challenges of consumerism and hunger, the development responsibilities of affluent individuals and nations, and the dilemmas of globalization. Throughout the book the author argues for the importance of more inclusive and deliberative democratic institutions. Contents List of figures page ix Acknowled gments x 1 Introd uction 1 Part I: Devel opm ent ethics 33 2 Agree ments, contro versies, and challe nges 35 3 Ethics and deve lopme nt theory-pr actice 67 Part II: The capab ility ap proach: ethical foundati ons 4 Criti que of alternati ves 5 Agency, func tioning, and capabil ity 6 Eval uating capabil ities and func tionings Part III: Stre ngthen ing and applying the capabi lity ap proach 7 Agency, res ponsibil ity, and consumpt ion 8 Hunge r, capabilit y, and agenc y-orient ed developm ent Part IV: Deli berative democ racy, part icipatio n, and globaliz ation 9 The capabil ity app roach and deliberati ve dem ocracy vii 10 De liberativ e particip ation in local deve lopment 11 De velopment ethics, democra cy, and globa lization Index of na mes Index of su bjects viii Contents This book is the culmination of thirty years of teaching and writing in development ethics. In the introductory chapter, I recount the stages in the emergence and evolution of development ethics and its relation to my own intellectual journey. In endnotes to each chapter I acknowledge those institutions and individuals who were important in each chapter's origin and improvement. The present occasion enables me to express my deep gratitude to those institutions, groups, and persons who have helped shape the entire project. None of them, of course, is responsible for whatever deficiencies remain.

Public Engagement piece by David Crocker, director of the Center for Constitutional Government at... more Public Engagement piece by David Crocker, director of the Center for Constitutional Government at The Maine Heritage Policy Center. He discusses public and the judicial support for strengthened state and individual rights. He gives examples of recent court cases involving state\u27s rights, freedom of speech, and the individual mandate portion of the new health care law. He advocates that the federal government should not impinge on the personal and economic liberties of individuals

… Session, Vatican City, The Pontifical Academy of Social …, 2001

Social Theory and Practice, 2009

The Paideia Archive: Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, 1998

I discuss the nature and genesis of international development ethics as well as its current areas... more I discuss the nature and genesis of international development ethics as well as its current areas of consensus, controversies, challenges, and agenda. A relatively new field of applied ethics, international development ethics is ethical reflection on the ends and means of socioeconomic change in poor countries and regions. It has several sources: criticism of colonialism and post-World War II developmental strategies; Denis Goulet's writings; Anglo-American philosophical debates about the ethics of famine relief; and Paul Streeten's and Amartya Sen's approaches to development. Development ethicists agree that the moral dimension of development theory and practice is just as important as the scientific and policy components. What is often called "development" (e.g., economic growth) may be bad for people, communities, and the environment. Hence, the process of development should be reconceived as beneficial change, usually specified as alleviating human misery a...

Agency and Democracy in Development Ethics, 2019

Ethics of Global Development, 2008

Buffalo Criminal Law Review, 2002

From Chile to Cambodia to South Africa to the United States, societies and international institut... more From Chile to Cambodia to South Africa to the United States, societies and international institutions are deciding how they should reckon with past atrocities—including war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, rape, and torture—that may have been committed by a government against its own citizens, by its opponents, or by combatants in an international armed conflict. In deciding whether and how to address these political crimes, it is commonly believed that trials and punishment, on the one hand, and reconciliation, on the other, are fundamentally at odds with each other, that a nation must choose one or the other, and that reconciliation is morally superior to punishment. For example, in No Future Without Forgiveness, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu evaluates the successes and failures of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The chair of the TRC, Tutu defends the Commission’s granting of amnesty to wrongdoers who revealed the truth about their

This study examines participatory budgeting (PB) as an important kind of citizen participation in... more This study examines participatory budgeting (PB) as an important kind of citizen participation in the Dominican Republic (DR) and the implications of this recent practice for agency, democracy, and development. PB is a process that intends to drive change with specific outcomes: through deliberative decision-making, ordinary citizens select wellbeing-and agency-enhancing projects that ideally lead to more local and authentic development. Together with the attainment of these tangible outcomes, valuable subjective states may also come about: people feel more in charge of their own lives, community groups become more collaborative and cooperative, and more and better democracy is fostered. Taking a step forward from previous studies that only focus on PB from an urban planning or public finance perspective, the overall objective of this study is to provide a deeper understanding and assessment of how PB works in the localities under analysis, its association with different measures of agency, the characteristics that drive its success or failure, and its general impact on the lives of individuals and communities. Drawing on normative and policy-based literatures and specifically following an agency-oriented capability approach, this study uses a mixed-methods approach to analyze interview, survey, and direct observations of PB public assemblies, and archival data with respect to the 2013 budget cycle in four DR municipalities. A regression analysis finds that participation in and awareness of PB are both significantly correlated with individuals reporting higher levels of individual and collective agency when compared to nonparticipants and unaware individuals. These measures of agency are contextualized to the municipal budget-planning cycle. A process tracing analysis concludes that PB is likely, under certain conditions, to increase democratic participation and deliberation. However, due to certain democratic deficits, PB in two DR municipalities does not always increase agency, group cooperative functioning, and good development. Thus, PB must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis because differences in the characteristics of each PB assembly may lead to different outcomes. It is finally argued that rather than condemning democracy because of the failures of the current PB system, we should advance PB's democracy further by improving it in various ways.

Veritas, 2016

Resumen En este trabajo identifico cuatro temas que, considero, deberían ser más prominentes en e... more Resumen En este trabajo identifico cuatro temas que, considero, deberían ser más prominentes en el enfoque de las capacidades para el desarrollo internacional y la reflexión ética respecto de los fines, medios y procesos del desarrollo: (1) desigualdad de poder, (2) agencia y empoderamiento, (3) democracia y desarrollo y (4) corrupción. Sostengo que el primero y el cuarto son desafíos de urgencia para la campaña del enfoque de las capacidades, y que el segundo y tercer temas son importantes maneras en las cuales los desafíos pueden y deberían ser enfrentados.

<jats:p>Development ethics is ethical reflection on the ends and means of socioeconomic cha... more <jats:p>Development ethics is ethical reflection on the ends and means of socioeconomic change in poor countries and regions. It has several sources: criticism of colonialism and post-Second World War development strategies; Denis Goulet's writings; Anglo-American philosophical debates about the ethics of famine relief; and Paul Streeten's and Amartya Sen's approaches to development.</jats:p> <jats:p>Development ethicists agree that the moral dimension of development theory and practice is just as important as the scientific and policy components. What is often called 'development' – economic growth, for instance – may be bad for people, communities and the environment. Hence, the process of development should be reconceived as beneficial change, usually specified as alleviating human misery and environmental degradation in poor countries.</jats:p> <jats:p>Development ethicists do not yet agree on whether their ethical reflection should extend to destitution in rich countries or aspects of North–South relations apart from development aid. Other unresolved controversies concern the status and content of substantive development norms. Finally, agreement does not yet exist as to how the benefits of and responsibilities for development should be distributed within and between countries.</jats:p>

Human Development in Times of Crisis, 2017

Agency and Democracy in Development Ethics, 2019

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2008

This page intentionally left blank Ethics of Global Development Poverty, inequality, violence, en... more This page intentionally left blank Ethics of Global Development Poverty, inequality, violence, environmental degradation, and tyranny continue to afflict the world. Ethics of Global Development offers moral reflection on the ends and means of local, national, and global efforts to overcome these five scourges. After emphasizing the role of ethics in development studies, policymaking, and practice, David A. Crocker analyzes and evaluates Amartya Sen's philosophy of development in relation to alternative ethical outlooks. He argues that Sen's recent turn to robust ideals of human agency and democracy improves on both Sen's earlier emphasis on "capabilities and functionings" and Martha Nussbaum's version of the capability orientation. This agency-focused capability approach is then extended and strengthened by applying it to the challenges of consumerism and hunger, the development responsibilities of affluent individuals and nations, and the dilemmas of globalization. Throughout the book the author argues for the importance of more inclusive and deliberative democratic institutions. Contents List of figures page ix Acknowled gments x 1 Introd uction 1 Part I: Devel opm ent ethics 33 2 Agree ments, contro versies, and challe nges 35 3 Ethics and deve lopme nt theory-pr actice 67 Part II: The capab ility ap proach: ethical foundati ons 4 Criti que of alternati ves 5 Agency, func tioning, and capabil ity 6 Eval uating capabil ities and func tionings Part III: Stre ngthen ing and applying the capabi lity ap proach 7 Agency, res ponsibil ity, and consumpt ion 8 Hunge r, capabilit y, and agenc y-orient ed developm ent Part IV: Deli berative democ racy, part icipatio n, and globaliz ation 9 The capabil ity app roach and deliberati ve dem ocracy vii 10 De liberativ e particip ation in local deve lopment 11 De velopment ethics, democra cy, and globa lization Index of na mes Index of su bjects viii Contents This book is the culmination of thirty years of teaching and writing in development ethics. In the introductory chapter, I recount the stages in the emergence and evolution of development ethics and its relation to my own intellectual journey. In endnotes to each chapter I acknowledge those institutions and individuals who were important in each chapter's origin and improvement. The present occasion enables me to express my deep gratitude to those institutions, groups, and persons who have helped shape the entire project. None of them, of course, is responsible for whatever deficiencies remain.

Public Engagement piece by David Crocker, director of the Center for Constitutional Government at... more Public Engagement piece by David Crocker, director of the Center for Constitutional Government at The Maine Heritage Policy Center. He discusses public and the judicial support for strengthened state and individual rights. He gives examples of recent court cases involving state\u27s rights, freedom of speech, and the individual mandate portion of the new health care law. He advocates that the federal government should not impinge on the personal and economic liberties of individuals

… Session, Vatican City, The Pontifical Academy of Social …, 2001

Social Theory and Practice, 2009

The Paideia Archive: Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, 1998

I discuss the nature and genesis of international development ethics as well as its current areas... more I discuss the nature and genesis of international development ethics as well as its current areas of consensus, controversies, challenges, and agenda. A relatively new field of applied ethics, international development ethics is ethical reflection on the ends and means of socioeconomic change in poor countries and regions. It has several sources: criticism of colonialism and post-World War II developmental strategies; Denis Goulet's writings; Anglo-American philosophical debates about the ethics of famine relief; and Paul Streeten's and Amartya Sen's approaches to development. Development ethicists agree that the moral dimension of development theory and practice is just as important as the scientific and policy components. What is often called "development" (e.g., economic growth) may be bad for people, communities, and the environment. Hence, the process of development should be reconceived as beneficial change, usually specified as alleviating human misery a...

Agency and Democracy in Development Ethics, 2019

Ethics of Global Development, 2008

Buffalo Criminal Law Review, 2002

From Chile to Cambodia to South Africa to the United States, societies and international institut... more From Chile to Cambodia to South Africa to the United States, societies and international institutions are deciding how they should reckon with past atrocities—including war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, rape, and torture—that may have been committed by a government against its own citizens, by its opponents, or by combatants in an international armed conflict. In deciding whether and how to address these political crimes, it is commonly believed that trials and punishment, on the one hand, and reconciliation, on the other, are fundamentally at odds with each other, that a nation must choose one or the other, and that reconciliation is morally superior to punishment. For example, in No Future Without Forgiveness, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu evaluates the successes and failures of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The chair of the TRC, Tutu defends the Commission’s granting of amnesty to wrongdoers who revealed the truth about their

This study examines participatory budgeting (PB) as an important kind of citizen participation in... more This study examines participatory budgeting (PB) as an important kind of citizen participation in the Dominican Republic (DR) and the implications of this recent practice for agency, democracy, and development. PB is a process that intends to drive change with specific outcomes: through deliberative decision-making, ordinary citizens select wellbeing-and agency-enhancing projects that ideally lead to more local and authentic development. Together with the attainment of these tangible outcomes, valuable subjective states may also come about: people feel more in charge of their own lives, community groups become more collaborative and cooperative, and more and better democracy is fostered. Taking a step forward from previous studies that only focus on PB from an urban planning or public finance perspective, the overall objective of this study is to provide a deeper understanding and assessment of how PB works in the localities under analysis, its association with different measures of agency, the characteristics that drive its success or failure, and its general impact on the lives of individuals and communities. Drawing on normative and policy-based literatures and specifically following an agency-oriented capability approach, this study uses a mixed-methods approach to analyze interview, survey, and direct observations of PB public assemblies, and archival data with respect to the 2013 budget cycle in four DR municipalities. A regression analysis finds that participation in and awareness of PB are both significantly correlated with individuals reporting higher levels of individual and collective agency when compared to nonparticipants and unaware individuals. These measures of agency are contextualized to the municipal budget-planning cycle. A process tracing analysis concludes that PB is likely, under certain conditions, to increase democratic participation and deliberation. However, due to certain democratic deficits, PB in two DR municipalities does not always increase agency, group cooperative functioning, and good development. Thus, PB must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis because differences in the characteristics of each PB assembly may lead to different outcomes. It is finally argued that rather than condemning democracy because of the failures of the current PB system, we should advance PB's democracy further by improving it in various ways.

Veritas, 2016

Resumen En este trabajo identifico cuatro temas que, considero, deberían ser más prominentes en e... more Resumen En este trabajo identifico cuatro temas que, considero, deberían ser más prominentes en el enfoque de las capacidades para el desarrollo internacional y la reflexión ética respecto de los fines, medios y procesos del desarrollo: (1) desigualdad de poder, (2) agencia y empoderamiento, (3) democracia y desarrollo y (4) corrupción. Sostengo que el primero y el cuarto son desafíos de urgencia para la campaña del enfoque de las capacidades, y que el segundo y tercer temas son importantes maneras en las cuales los desafíos pueden y deberían ser enfrentados.