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Capability Approach To Development

The document discusses Amartya Sen's Capability Approach to development, which focuses on expanding people's capabilities and freedom of choice rather than income alone. The approach emphasizes that development should aim to improve well-being through increasing capabilities linked to freedoms. It also distinguishes between capabilities, which are potential functionings, and functionings, which are actual accomplishments.

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Gunjan Choudhary
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268 views14 pages

Capability Approach To Development

The document discusses Amartya Sen's Capability Approach to development, which focuses on expanding people's capabilities and freedom of choice rather than income alone. The approach emphasizes that development should aim to improve well-being through increasing capabilities linked to freedoms. It also distinguishes between capabilities, which are potential functionings, and functionings, which are actual accomplishments.

Uploaded by

Gunjan Choudhary
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Amartya Sen’s Capability

Approach
Debajit Jha
Readings

• Chapter 1 and 2 “Development as Freedom” A K Sen


Capability Approach
• The Capability approach emphasizes that money and income are not the
ultimate goals, but rather they serve as means to enable other activities.

• According to Sen, what truly matters for a person's well-being is their


“capability to function”,

• a concept that can be traced back to Aristotle.

• Sen asserts that increase in commodity production should not be valued for
their own sake, but rather for the benefit they bring to human welfare and
freedom.
Capability Approach

• Unlike the utility approach, which focuses solely on the characteristics of the
goods and services consumed, the Capability Approach takes into account
how these resources are used.

• For example:

• A book is not helpful for someone who cannot read.

• A person with a parasite infection will be less capable of getting the


necessary nutrients from food compared to someone who is healthy.
Capability Approach
• Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach:

• Views development as the expansion of people's capabilities

• Aims to improve well-being by increasing capabilities, which are linked to


freedom of choice

• Recognizes diversity and the complex nature of human well-being


Capability Approach

• Emphasize on both actual functioning and having the capabilities to make


valued choices

• Capabilities seen as substantive freedoms, rather than just


accumulated commodities

• Offers a systematic way to think and analyze issues based on people's


capabilities
Capability Approach
• Sen argues that

• Income or command over commodities, or needs fulfilment (as


measured by utility) are not good indicators of well-being

• Well-being depends on a person's capabilities and what they are


capable of doing and being

• Aimed at identifying a more direct measure of human well-being, the


approach is based on two building blocks

• functionings and capabilities


Functionings
• Functionings defined as what a person does or is capable of doing with
commodities and specific traits they acquire or have control over

• Functionings are human accomplishments, referred to as "doings" or


"beings“

• When "doings" and "beings" come together, functionings are


accomplished

• Functioning depicts how a person uses commodities in their possession


Capabilities
• Capabilities are choices to attain useful functionings, reflecting a
person's freedom of choice

• Capabilities are the range of useful functionings to which a person has


access

• Capabilities are best understood as a person's opportunity set

• Simply put, capabilities are the ability to choose from a set of


functionings
Capabilities vs Functionings
• Capabilities refer to a person's potential "doings and beings," while
functionings refer to a person's actual "doings and beings."

• Freedom distinguishes functionings from capabilities

• Example of difference between capabilities and functionings:

• The case of fasting. Two people who are hungry - one a victim of famine
in Ethiopia and one fasting for religious reasons.

• The first person has no freedom to obtain food, limiting their


capability of being well-fed, while the second person has the freedom
but chooses not to use it.
The Capability Approach's Definition of
Development
• The purpose of development is to increase individual freedom, and
freedom itself is the main instrument for achieving this goal.

• Development requires elimination of constraints such as discrimination,


unreliable public services, lack of economic opportunities, social
exclusion, restrictive policies, fear of violence, etc.

• The capability approach views poverty as a lack of basic capabilities, or a


failure to achieve minimum necessary functionings.

• Sen's capabilities-poverty is linked to income-poverty, with people's


capabilities growing as their income increases and vice versa.
The Capability Approach's Definition of
Development
• Basic necessities such as education and health directly enhance
capabilities and quality of life, and increase the capability to earn more.

• However, a good income does not always guarantee enhanced


capabilities in situations of discrimination.

• In patriarchal societies, gender disparity contributes to reduced


freedom, capabilities, and poverty for female members.
The Capability Approach's Definition of
Development
• The capability approach argues that reducing poverty requires more than just
increasing per capita income.

• The development status of some Indian states highlights that there is no direct
correlation between economic progress and human well-being.

• For example:

• Kerala has significantly reduced poverty despite a modestly developed


economy by improving access to education, healthcare, and equal land
distribution.

• In Punjab, the GDP per capita is significantly higher but there is also a
higher poverty rate.
Thank you

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