scholarly journals Towards a Critical Sociology of Democracy: The Potential of the Capability Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 953-968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Michel Bonvin ◽  
Francesco Laruffa ◽  
Emilie Rosenstein
Keyword(s):  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Social Reality ◽  
Critical Sociology ◽  
Ideal Approach ◽  
The Many ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach ◽  
The Capability Approach

The aim of this article is to lay down the foundations of a critical sociology of democracy and participation. Based on Amartya Sen’s capability approach, we identify four major pitfalls of classical theories on justice and deliberative democracy: 1) an excessive emphasis on the procedural dimension of democracy at the expense of its substantial value; 2) an ideal of deliberation that does not sufficiently account for the inequalities that characterize actual participative practices; 3) an ideal approach to rationality which is inconsistent with the plurality of reasons to value and arguments that can be observed in social reality; and 4) a focus on official or institutionalized forms of deliberation that does not pay due attention to the many forms and dynamics of participation. We contend that, by contrast, Sen’s epistemology may be fruitful for the development of a critical sociology of democracy and suggest an agenda for empirical research on participation and deliberative practices.

scholarly journals The Capability Approach: Insights for a New Poverty Focus

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROD HICK
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
The Many ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach ◽  
The Capability Approach

AbstractThe concepts of poverty, social exclusion and deprivation are widely employed but often problematic. This paper discusses some problems with prominent interpretations of these concepts and how Amartya Sen's capability approach can provide a conceptual framework that can overcome these problems. It is argued that the capability approach can reflect the many ways that human lives are blighted and that it thus offers a promising framework for poverty analysis. Six insights for poverty analysis provided by the capability approach are discussed.

A contested terrain: Re/conceptualising the well-being of homeworkers

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farah Naz ◽  
Dieter Bögenhold
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Sociological Perspective ◽  
Alternative Measures ◽  
Contested Terrain ◽  
Football Industry ◽  
The Capability Approach

Disenchantment with traditional income-based measures of well-being has led to the search for alternative measures. Two major alternative measures of well-being come from subjective well-being research and the objective capability approach. The capability approach has been largely discussed in the context of development studies and economics and is mainly used within quantitative frameworks, but it also raises many questions that are worthy of discussion from a sociological perspective as well. This study opts for a qualitative approach to transpose capability approach in order to assess the well-being of female homeworkers in the football industry of Pakistan. The aim of this empirical research is to focus on the capabilities of homeworkers in accessing economic, individual, social and psychological aspects of well-being.

scholarly journals Beyond Equality of What: Sen and neutrality

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-235
Author(s):  
Christopher Robert Lowry
Keyword(s):  
Good Life ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Liberal Theory ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Primary Goods ◽  
Political Liberal ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach ◽  
The Capability Approach

Based on a close reading of the debate between Rawls and Sen on primary goods versus capabilities, I argue that liberal theory cannot adequately respond to Sen’s critique within a conventionally neutralist framework. In support of the capability approach, I explain why and how it defends a more robust conception of opportunity and freedom, along with public debate on substantive questions about well-being and the good life. My aims are: (i) to show that Sen’s capability approach is at odds with Rawls’s political liberal version of neutrality; (ii) to carve out a third space in the neutrality debate; and (iii) to begin to develop, from Sen’s approach, the idea of public value liberalism as a position that falls within that third space.

scholarly journals Rethinking social policy from a capability perspective

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Mara A. Yerkes ◽  
Jana Javornik ◽  
Anna Kurowska
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Conversion Factors ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach ◽  
The Capability Approach

In this chapter, we discuss the key challenges and issues related to interpreting basic concepts of the capability approach (CA) in a social policy context. We start by briefly introducing the CA, tracing the idea of capabilities back to the writings of Aristotle and interpreting them in the context of Sen's capability approach. We then discuss the theoretical and empirical debates surrounding the CA as it was further developed by Nussbaum and later interpreted by other scholars such as Robeyns. The focus here is on the main conceptual and empirical debates in relation to social policy research and practice, centred on the key concepts in Sen's approach to capabilities: means, capabilities, functionings, conversion factors, and agency. Multiple interpretations of these concepts create difficulties in applying the CA to social policy research. This chapter offers a way forward in addressing these issues as they apply specifically to social policy research and practice.

Metrics of Justice

2019 ◽  
pp. 51-85
Author(s):  
Ali Mehdi
Keyword(s):  
Capability Approach ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theories Of Justice ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach ◽  
Social Level ◽  
The Capability Approach

This chapter characterizes and critiques the relevant aspects of various metrics of justice put forth by major theories of justice, with a special focus on Amartya Sen’s capability approach. It then goes on to discuss some of the relevant issues pertaining to the measurement of justice within the capability framework. For instance, justice is to be eventually measured at the individual and not the social level, although our choice will be governed by the evaluative purpose. It ends with a conceptual assessment of the capability approach, highlighting some of its challenges.

scholarly journals Creating capabilities: Childcare policies in comparative perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-544 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara A Yerkes ◽  
Jana Javornik
Keyword(s):  
Service Provision ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Care Arrangement ◽  
Childcare Policy ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach ◽  
The Capability Approach

This article analyses childcare services in six countries, assessing this policy instrument’s potential to facilitate parents’ capabilities for arranging childcare in a way they have reason to value. It draws on Sen’s capability approach to conceptualize and assess childcare policy design across five key aspects of childcare provision (accessibility, availability, affordability, quality and flexibility) in a country-comparative perspective. The conceptualization of the multifaceted nature of childcare provides compelling insights into the complexity of comparing childcare services across countries. The ensuing analysis and comprehensive overview of national policies challenges the idea of a defamilialization policy cluster, which masks key distinctions between public and market service provision. The more nuanced conceptualization and operationalization of childcare policy design through the capability approach reveals parents’ real opportunities for arranging childcare and the varying effects of policy design across gender and class. In addition, it goes beyond implicit commodification assumptions and opens up space for parents’ potential desire for multiple care arrangement possibilities.

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