While the origins ofthis capabilities approach go back to the works of john stuart mill, adam smith, and, in spirit if not in form, to aristotle, it was the seminal contribution of amartya sen in the form of his 1979. Amartya sens capability approach and social justice in education. In 1985 amartya sen published a very short book entitled commodities and capabilities. There are many human rights that can be seen as rights to particular capabilities. Since the introduction of the approach, numerous scholars from various fields have applied this approach in their studies. The topic is at the core of sens economic and philosophical work. In a recent discussion of amartya sens concept of the capabilities of people for functioning in their society and the idea of targeting peoples functioning capabilities in evaluating the society g.
Amartya sen and his contributions to economics born in 1933 in dhaka, bengal, amartya sen spent his childhood in a school run by a nobel prize winner, rabindranath tagore. Rabindranath tagore gave amartya sen his name bengali. He utilizes this interconnectedness proven earlier to. My ancestral home in wari in old dhaka is not far from the university campus in ramna. He was further exposed to racial riots in british india in his childhood. My father ashutosh sen taught chemistry at dhaka university.
It originated in amartya sen s disquiet with orthodox welfare. Crocker 5agency, functionings, and capabilities 252008 1 5 agency, functioning, and capability having examined sens and nussbaums assessment of alternative ethical approaches to development, we are in a position in the present chapter to analyze and evaluate the. Amartya sen s economic and political theory including, centrally, his work on the idea of human capability as both a goal of and an indicator of development has had a major impact on both the theory and practice of international development and won him, among many honours, the nobel prize for economics. Sen challenges the mainstream concept of measuring development by economic growth evans 2002. The book was reissued by oxford after sen received his nobel prize in economic sciences. The capability approach is used in a wide range of fields, most prominently in development thinking, welfare economics, social policy and political philosophy. The contributions of professor amartya sen in the field of. Pdf development as freedom, in the words of amartya sen 1999. Sen 1992 further argues that evaluation of wellbeing should be measured within the space of capabilities and not functionings, and that evaluation should thus focus on opportunities and not achievements. Amartya sens theory has clearly a humane approach and has won widespread acclaim, even by the mainstream economists. My family is from dhaka now the capital of bangladesh. Essays on amartya sens capability approach repub, erasmus. Sens capability approach internet encyclopedia of philosophy.
Apr 03, 20 amartya sens concept of development as freedom 1999 is highly acclaimed. This brought him the understanding that poor people are especially vulnerable to violence. Although the original versions of the ca sen, nussbaum provide. Capability approach pioneers amartya sen and martha nussbaum both recognize empowerment as an important aspect of human development in a number of ways. What is more he writes as an economist who shows a genuine concern for the wellbeing of human beings everywhere in the world, and uses his economics in this book to show how the. Eyebrows were raised when amartya sen won the nobel prize in economics. Amartya sens capability approach and education eric. Fundamental freedoms and human rights sen has advocated new approaches to thinking about fundamental freedoms and human rights. If the difference between sens and nussbaums conceptions of capability was. The concept has directly influenced the workings of both the. Amartya sens concept of development as freedom 1999 is highly acclaimed.
It reflects the various combinations of functionings doings and beings he or she can achieve. He is lamont university professor at harvard and formerly master of trinity college, cambridge. His early education was deeply influenced by his schools founder, rabindranath tagore. The human capabilities approach developed by the economist amartya sen links development, quality of life and freedom.
Thus, there is no easy way to combine and reconcile sens and. Merging capabilities and livelihoods ecology and society. The argument presented focuses on the capability to function, i. His theory is also silent on the impact of global agreements. Development in practice sens capability approach as a. For supporting andor commenting on the overall project, the first author is particularly grateful to amartya sen, caterina laderchi and wulf gaertner the usual caveat applies. External capabilities and the limits to social policy. External capabilities merge these internal conditions with external material and social ones that make valued functionings an available option. Amartya sens capability approach and social justice in.
Human rights and capabilities amartya sen amartya sen is lamont university professor at harvard university, cambridge, ma, usa abstract the two concepts human rights and capabilities go well with each other, so long as we do not try to subsume either concept entirely within the territory of the other. Dec 31, 1985 commodities and capabilities presents a set of interrelated theses concerning the foundations of welfare economics, and in particular about the assessment of personal wellbeing and advantage. Capability reflects a persons freedom to choose between different ways of living. A critique of the behavioral foundations of economic theory, philosophy and public affairs, summer, 1977. Amartya sens capability theory of development and poverty. In many areas amartya sen and martha nussbaum, the two main advocates of the capability approach ca, argue along the same lines and eve use similar phrasing. Development as freedom, by amartya sen, 1999 amartya sen, nobel prize winner in economics in 1998, is the most prolific top notch economic scholar i know.
Development and capabilities association conferences at unesco in paris and in groningen. The capability approach also referred to as the capabilities approach is an economic theory conceived in the 1980s as an alternative approach to welfare economics. I am going to install an unsupported free windows software called xvid converter. They seem to disagree, however, about how empowerment should be represented within the capability approach ca. This approach arises in the context of human development as a conceptual framework for analyzing peoples wellbeing and quality of life sen 1985. Amartya sen had an extensive background in development economics, social choice theory for which he received the 1998 nobel prize in economics, and philosophy before developing the capability approach during the 1980s. Their combined citations are counted only for the first article.
Sens family was from wari and manikganj, dhaka, both in presentday bangladesh. Amartya sen amartya sen is lamont university professor at harvard university, cambridge, ma, usa abstract the two concepts human rights and capabilities go well with each other, so long as we do not try to subsume either concept entirely within the territory of the other. It can be used to evaluate a wide variety of aspects of peoples wellbeing, such as individual wellbeing, inequality and poverty. Capability approach pioneered by amartya sen has been a new milestone for analyzing poverty through gender perspective. Commodities and capabilities presents a set of interrelated theses concerning the foundations of welfare economics, and in particular about the assessment of personal wellbeing and advantage.
Poverty as severe capability deprivation amartya sen and the evolution of the concept of poverty leland joseph r. The capability approach also referred to as the capabilities approach was initially conceived in the 1980s as an approach to welfare economics. This paper is concerned with discussing the nature and implications of that general. Cohen accuses sen of espousing an inappropriate, athletic image of the person cohen, 1993, pp.
Lamont university professor and professor of economics and philosophy, harvard university senior fellow, harvard society of fellows formerly master, trinity college, cambridge, england, 19982003 birth. Amartya sens books include on economic inequality, development as freedom and the argumentative indian. New york, dec 6, 2004 amartya sen was born in 1933 in santiniketan, india. However, his thesis squarely rests on western individualism and fails to provide critical analysis of major western institutions on peoples capabilities. It assesses the ways in which sens research agenda has deepened and expanded human rights discourse in the disciplines of ethics and economics, and examines how his work has promoted crossfertilisation and integration on this subject across traditional disciplinary divides. He argues that human development is about the expansion of citizens capabilities. In order to explain the need to focus on choice, sen 1992 illustrates the difference by using the example of a person who starves as. Prof sen classifies diverse freedoms into five different categories, namely economic empowerment, political freedoms, social opportunities. He lives in cambridge, massachusetts and cambridge, england. Amartya sens economic and political theory including, centrally, his work on the idea of human capability as both a goal of and an indicator of development has had a major impact on both the theory and practice of international development and won him, among many honours, the. The article provides a critique of the concept of capabilities, initially advanced by. Pdf in many areas amartya sen and martha nussbaum, the two main advocates of the. Ne xt, sen makes use of the capability perspective, seeing development as freedom, to evaluate the ordinary institutions we operate with. Amartya sens capability approach to human wellbeing.
Building on existing work on the capabilities approach within education, it is emphasised that the. Amartya sen on development discovering development. Amartya sen and capabilities share the writings of amartya sen, indian economist and philosopher, nobel laureate in economics in 1998, are now recognized for their major contribution to the analysis of inequality and philosophical theories of justice. In 1998, professor sen became the first indian and the first asian to win the nobel prize in economics. An interview with amartya sen, the nobel prizewinning economist and author of development as freedom. In this approach, amartya sen and martha nussbaum bring together a range of ideas that were previously excluded from or inadequately formulated in traditional approaches to the economics of welfare. For sen, freedom means increasing citizens access and opportunities to the things they have reason to value.