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.

Social Policy and the Capability Approach

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Policy Fields ◽  
The Capability Approach

The capability approach, an increasingly popular conceptual and theoretical framework focused on what individuals are able to do and be, offers a unique evaluative perspective to social policy analysis. This book explores the advantages of this approach and offers a way forward in addressing conceptual and empirical issues as they apply specifically to social policy research and practice. Short conceptual and empirical chapters provide clear examples of how policies shape the capabilities of different groups and individuals, critically assessing the efficacy of different social policies across multiple social policy fields, providing both academic and practitioner viewpoints.

From the capability approach to capability-based social policy

2019 ◽  
pp. 147-156
Author(s):  
Mara A. Yerkes ◽  
Jana Javornik ◽  
Erik Jansen ◽  
Anna Kurowska
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Evaluative Space ◽  
The Capability Approach

This concluding chapter synthesizes the key messages from the book and presents a framework for future uses of the capability approach (CA) in social policy research and practice. As shown throughout the volume, social policy as a multi-layered research field spans numerous domains, each with their inherent complexities and approaches. Taking policy domains as an evaluative entry point, social policy research seeks to understand their development, processes, aims, implementation and impact from multiple perspectives and actors, including policymakers, professionals and practitioners, and policy recipients. The CA offers a promising way forward in understanding these multiple perspectives as demonstrated by the individual chapters in this volume. We break systematically from the established scholarship in our aim to offer new frameworks for analysing and formulating policies. We propose the use of a capability approach to social policy (see Chapter One), further specified into capability theories (Robeyns, 2017), as illustrated by the conceptual and methodological developments in this volume, synthesized here. Additionally, we discuss a three-tiered translational process for shifting from developing an evaluative space for understanding social policy development, its implementation and effects, towards developing capability-based social policies at a collective level. This final, concluding chapter, briefly summarizes the key arguments of the book to provide a foundation for making this shift.

Approccio delle capacitŕ e sociologia economica: un matrimonio vincente per lo studio delle politiche

2009 ◽  
pp. 66-79
Author(s):  
Gianluca Busilacchi
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Economic Sociology ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Empirical Level ◽  
The Capability Approach

- Over the last year the capability approach has been widely used by social scientist. Its success is mainly due to the richness of its theoretical framework and the possibility to enrich the interdisciplinary researches also at the empirical level. However the empirical applications in the field of public policy, especially social policy, are still very limited: what is the reason? And which is the role of economic sociology in contributing to the analysis of social policy endorsing the capability approach? The first part of the paper concerns the explanation of the theoretical framework of the capability approach, through an analysis of its main concepts and empirical applications. Then we will try to see why the capability approach can be especially used by economic sociology, and why this social science can be enriched by the capability approach to analyse social policy with a richer toolbox.Keywords: social policy, capability approach, economic sociology, public policy, Amartya Sen, poverty

scholarly journals Enabling Participation Income for an Eco-Social State

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Francesco Laruffa ◽  
Michael McGann ◽  
Mary P. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Social State ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Questions ◽  
The Capability Approach

We revise Atkinson’s concept of a ‘participation income’ (PI), repositioning it as a form of green conditional basic income that is anchored in a capabilities-oriented eco-social policy framework. This framework combines the capability approach with an ‘ethics of care’ to re-shape the focus of social policy on individuals’ capability to ‘take care of the world’, thus shifting the emphasis from economic production to social reproduction and environmental reparation. In developing this proposal, we seek to address key questions about the feasibility of implementing PI schemes: including their administrative complexity and the criticism that a PI constitutes either an arbitrary and confusing, or invasive and stigmatising, form of basic income. To address these concerns, we argue for an enabling approach to incentivising participation whereby participation pathways are co-created with citizens on the basis of opportunities they recognise as meaningful rather than enforced through strict monitoring and sanctions.

scholarly journals Towards a Capability-Oriented Eco-Social Policy: Elements of a Normative Framework

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Jean-Michel Bonvin ◽  
Francesco Laruffa
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Normative Framework ◽  
Normative Basis ◽  
The Capability Approach

In this article we explore the potential of the capability approach as a normative basis for eco-social policies. While the capability approach is often interpreted as a productivist or maximalist perspective, assuming the desirability of economic growth, we suggest another understanding, which explicitly problematises the suitability of economic growth and productive employment as means for enhancing capabilities. We argue that the capability approach allows rejecting the identification of social progress with economic growth and that it calls for democratically debating the meaning of wellbeing and quality of life. We analyse the implications of this conceptualisation for the design of welfare states.

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