A Capability Approach to Intergenerational Justice? Examining the Potential of Amartya Sen's Ethics with Regard to Intergenerational Issues

Gutwald, Rebecca; Leßmann, Ortrud; Masson, Torsten; Rauschmayer, Felix

doi:10.1080/19452829.2014.899563

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In ecological economics, the capabilities approach has been incorporated in a problem-solving sense: to understand the relationship between nature and human development [85,91]; to examine conflict [92]; in the context of intergenerational equity [93]; and in its broader sense of providing a basis for understanding the "social" objectives of economic activity [76,84,[94][95][96]. There remains tension, however, between the procedural focus on public reasoning that undergirds the capabilities approach and the normative "sustainability" goals of ecological economics.…”

Section: Deliberation and Alternative Theories Of Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deliberation and the Promise of a Deeply Democratic Sustainability Transition

2019

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Ecological economics arose as a normative transdiscipline aiming to generate knowledge and tools to help transition the economy toward a scale which is sustainable within the bounds of the earth system. Yet it remains unclear in practice how to legitimize its explicitly normative agenda. One potential means for legitimation can be found in deliberative social and political theory. We review how deliberative theory has informed ecological economics, pointing to three uses: first, to support valuation of non-market goods and services; second, to inform environmental decision-making more broadly; third, to ground alternative theories of development and wellbeing. We argue that deliberation has been used as problem-solving theory, but that its more radical implications have rarely been embraced. Embracing a deliberative foundation for ecological economics raises questions about the compatibility of deeply democratic practice and the normative discourses arguing for a sustainability transition. We highlight three potential mechanisms by which deliberation may contribute to a sustainability transition: preference formation; normative evaluation; and legitimation. We explore each in turn, demonstrating the theoretical possibility that deliberation may be conducive in and of itself to a sustainability transition. We point to a series of challenges facing the “scaling up” of deliberative systems that demand further empirical and theoretical work. These challenges constitute a research agenda for a deeply democratic sustainability transition and can inform the future development of ecological economics and other normative, critical transdisciplines.

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Section: Deliberation and Alternative Theories Of Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deliberation and the Promise of a Deeply Democratic Sustainability Transition

2019

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“…The metric aspect encompasses types of resources and capabilities to use them. The rule aspect requires compliance with the principles of equality and equity while allocating those resources or devising the options to use them [6]. Redistributive justice seeks a fair distribution of spatial resources to all users, including the poor and disadvantaged groups, or equal opportunities to use their properties relative to their needs [66].…”

Section: Relating Spatial Justice To Land Tenure Securitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those people are excluded from the city and deprived of the opportunities to use their real properties through unfair compensation or forced sale that leads to the concentration of land resources into the hands of rich people [4,5]. Any attempt to mitigate such land tenure insecurity can promote spatial justice, which is a crucial opponent of just urban development [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators for Measuring Spatial Justice and Land Tenure Security for Poor and Low Income Urban Dwellers

Uwayezu

Vries

2018

Land

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There exist various indicators that measure land tenure security for urbanites. Most of those indicators measure the degree to which land titling promotes the security of tenure. Based on the reviewed literature, it is admitted that land titling is not a panacea to land tenure security. Measuring the degree of land tenure security should not rely only on the legalisation of landownership. This paper makes a meta-analysis and conceptual modelling to connect spatial justice and land tenure security. It discusses the potential of inclusive urban development grounded on the claim that spatial justice enhances land tenure security. A comprehensive framework of indicators which can measure the degree of land tenure security from a spatial justice lens is thereafter derived. The meta-analysis and conceptual modelling were coupled with research synthesis to perform an in-depth review and qualitative content analysis of the literature on concepts of spatial justice, land tenure security, and urban (re)development processes. This study proposes 60 indicators which measure the degree of spatial justice and land tenure security along a continuum of spatial justice and land tenure security. Those indicators provide a more holistic approach for measuring land tenure security from a spatial justice lens than the separated sets of existing indicators.

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“…In the first instance, substantial sustainable behavior can be motivated by a wish to increase one's own well-being. This is especially the case when the 9 Additionally, justice can then be measured by capabilities instead of using subjective metrics such as pleasure or preference or objective metrics such as income or access to other resources (Gutwald et al 2014). 10 According to Nussbaum (2000;, the ten central capabilities refer to: life, bodily health, bodily integrity, senses, imagination and thought, emotions, practical reason, affiliation, other species, play, and control over one's environment.…”

Section: Understanding Sustainable Development: Needs Capabilities mentioning

confidence: 99%

Going beyond efficiency: including altruistic motives in behavioral models for sustainability transitions to address sufficiency

Schäpke

Rauschmayer

2014

Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy

Self Cite

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Sustainability transitions require altered individual behaviors. Policies aimed at changing people's consumption behavior are designed according to efficiency, consistency, and sufficiency principles. Taking into account shortcomings of the first two principles, this paper specifically addresses the sufficiency principle. Sufficiency policies are not very popular due to the fear that they may impede quality of life. This fear might be eased when highlighting the motivational side of sustainable behavior, such as the wish to care for future generations and the world's poor. This article uses the capability approach (CA), developed primarily by Nobel-laureate economist Amartya Sen (1987a) and philosopher Martha Nussbaum (1993, 2000), to a) include the differentiation between self-and other-oriented goals and behavior, b) build on its demonstrated success in assessing quality of life, and c) assess the sustainability of behavior and policies. These three facets make CA suitable to analyze the effectiveness of sufficiency policies on sustainability and quality of life. To better understand the motivational side of sustainable behavior, CA is here for the first time enriched through approaches from environmental psychology. This enables us to highlight the idea of intrinsic empowerment as a building block for sufficiency policies. We close the article by highlighting further avenues for research.

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A Capability Approach to Intergenerational Justice? Examining the Potential of Amartya Sen's Ethics with Regard to Intergenerational Issues

Cited by 17 publications

References 23 publications

Deliberation and the Promise of a Deeply Democratic Sustainability Transition

Deliberation and the Promise of a Deeply Democratic Sustainability Transition

Indicators for Measuring Spatial Justice and Land Tenure Security for Poor and Low Income Urban Dwellers

Going beyond efficiency: including altruistic motives in behavioral models for sustainability transitions to address sufficiency

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