Is Sen's Capability Approach an Adequate Basis for Considering Human Development?

Abstract

Sen's capability approach (SCA) has supported valuable work on Human Development (HD). It has brought attention to a much wider range of information on people's freedoms and well-being than in most earlier economic planning; but it also has troubling features and requires modification and enrichment. This paper first identifies the approach's components, the contributions of the HD Reports, and the doubts about whether SCA has a sufficient conception of human personhood to sustain work on HD beyond finding indices superior to GDP. It then examines SCA's central concepts. The concepts of capability and functioning lead us to consider both possibilities and outcomes, but their definition and use has been confusing. Besides Sen's opportunity concept of 'capability' we must distinguish skills and potentials; and distinguish levels and types of 'functioning'. To understand both consumerism and what can motivate and drive more humanly fulfilling development, we must elaborate different aspects and sources of 'well-being' and the content and requirements of 'agency', more than in Sen's chosen strategy. SCA's priority category of opportunity-capability must be read as a measure of personal advantage relevant in many public policy situations, rather than as a theory of well-being; and its concept of freedom must be partnered by concepts of reason and need.

Human Well-being: Concepts and Conceptualizations

“…The category well-being seems to be used to refer to whatever is assessed in an evaluation of a person's situation, or, more fittingly and narrowly, in any such evaluation which is focused on the person's 'being' (Gasper 2002). The term 'welfare' can mean how well people live, or what is done by others to help the needy; these are the two OED meanings.…”

“…(For more on assessment, see e.g. Giri 2000, Gasper 2002, Gasper and van Staveren 2003 Let us look at his usage of the term 'well-being', and at whether capability is better seen as an interpretation of a person's 'advantage'.…”

Approaching Development Projects from a Human Development and Capability Perspective

“…Processes of human development of course involve change over time, with functionings in one period influencing capabilities and functionings in subsequent periods, as highlighted by Biggeri and Ferrannini (2014) and Gasper (2002). But the capability approach's attention to human agency can help to bring out that project processes are not mechanically predictable, and to underline dangers in the managerialist transposition of a linear control logic from a certain type of engineering project across to attempted social engineering.…”

The Palestinian Hidden Transcript: Domination, Resistance and the Role of ICTs in Achieving Freedoms

“…This is because it has lacked legitimacy as a methodology in academic circles due to its vagueness. In addition, it emphasises choice; key concepts are not clearly defined, and it is based on a dialogue between philosophy and economics only, ignoring key subjects such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology (Gasper, 2002). There is therefore an important gap in the freedom view of development literature that needs to be explored through other alternatives.…”