On the Possibility of the Capability Approach as a Political Philosophy (original) (raw)
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Internal Debates within Capability Approach Debate Between Amartya Sen And Martha Nussbaum
International Research Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, 2015
Capability approach is an evolving subject. While Amartya Sen developed the skeleton of the capability approach, the colleagues of Sen and his followers expanded the approach. Martha Nussbaum is a colleague of Amartya Sen who tried to use capability approach as a broad theory of social justice. Hence, she tried to be very methodological in her understanding of capability approach. She argued that a comprehensive understanding of capability approach needs us to go beyond Sen. She added a new twist to the existing understanding of the subject. She prepared a list of capabilities which she thought will provide the best conditions for human development. She claims that her list is more practical and suitable for gender justice. The present paper is an attempt to probe into the issues raised by Nussbaum. Along with this, the paper would also try to draw attention to the similar kind of lists prepared by other contemporary writers. In the concluding part it would focus on why it is a anom...
Mutual dependency between capabilities and functionings in Amartya Sen’s capability approach
Social Choice and Welfare, 2008
Amartya Sen's capability approach has recently been widely discussed as a theoretical basis for making resource allocation decisions in health care. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between capabilities and functionings in the capability approach. The paper shows that some functionings are not only the result of capabilities, but also their prerequisite. That is, there is a dual role of some functionings as both ends and instruments, resulting in a mutual dependency between capabilities and functionings. Functionings may be a direct requirement for capabilities, but also an indirect one because they ensure the absence of mental disorders or negative thoughts, both of which are relevant constraints on freedom. This has important implications. It supports a policy that ensures for everyone an initial endowment of (1) mental and physical health, (2) education, and (3) other functionings with a direct or indirect impact on capabilities.
Amartya Sen's Capability Approach
The Capability approach (also known as the capabilities approach) is a theoretical and normative framework concerned with well-being, the just design of institutional & social arrangements, poverty and human development.
The capability approach: a theoretical survey
2005
This paper aims to present a theoretical survey of the capability approach in an interdisciplinary and accessible way. It focuses on the main conceptual and theoretical aspects of the capability approach, as developed by Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum, and others. The capability approach is a broad normative framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well‐being and social arrangements, the design of policies, and proposals about social change in society.
European Journal of Sociology, 2013
The capability approach has been developed by Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum and others as a human-centred normative framework for the evaluation of individual and group well-being, quality of life and social justice. Sen and Nussbaum's ideas have influenced global, national and local policy and have been further developed in a number of academic disciplines, but so far have remained largely unnoticed in sociology. This article examines recent capability-informed theories and empirical applications in the sociology of human rights and other academic fields adjacent to sociology, focussing on examples of social policy studies in the fields of welfare, the labour market, health and disability, and education. The article outlines several potential areas in which capability-informed frameworks are relevant for critical social theory, public sociology and global sociology.
Justice and the Capability Approach
This paper will attempt to outline some of the concepts that make up the philosophical groundwork upon which the capability approach has been constructed. Amartya Sen's recent book The Idea of Justice (2009) proposes a new theory of justice which is inspired by, but also criticizes, Rawls' theory of justice. In particular, Sen favours a pragmatic, realization-focused comparison over “transcendental institutionalism”, and draws inspiration from Adam Smith's idea of the impartial spectator. This innovative paradigm raises new questions about what values should be given priority, and makes a significant contribution to the debate on equity, fairness and the role of moral discourse in policy-making. Specifically, this paper will focus on three problems: the critique of “transcendental” models in political philosophy, the role of public discourse, and the problem of global justice and discussion. Examining these concepts may help to break new ground for developing the capability approach.
Sen's capability approach and Nussbaum's capabilities ethic
Journal of International Development, 1997
The paper assesses Sen's more abstract version of capabilities theory, Nussbaum's more substantive Aristotelian version and attempts to apply such conceptions to women's lives. Sen's capability approach is a helpful intervention in the discourses of mainstream Western welfare economics and moral philosophy. To influence these, it retains some of their assumptions, and appears limited by its conceptions of the person and of agency. In both areas Nussbaum goes deeper, but her emphatically Aristotelian style is controversial and can short-circuit the debate she sought to advance. Priority areas for further work are: more adequate pictures of ‘culture’ and ‘the individual’ than she or Sen have used, to combine insights from communitarian critics with the strengths of the capabilities approach. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.