scholarly journals CULTURAL JUSTICE, BASIC INCOME AND THE CAPABILITY APPROACH

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
TORU YAMAMORI
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Market Process ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Normative Analysis ◽  
Cultural Justice ◽  
Nancy Fraser ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach ◽  
The Capability Approach

In this paper, we elaborate on a theory of an evolutionary political economy capable of accommodating the issue of cultural justice by taking seriously the redistribution–recognition dilemma, a normative analysis of which has been put forth by Nancy Fraser. While accepting Fraser’s articulation of the dilemma, we resist her concluding that Sen’s capability approach is insensitive to cultural justice or the recognition of difference. There is no automatic guarantee, yet an intermediate theory of recognition or cultural justice could in theory be brought to bear on what is, after all, ‘a framework’. We argue that Fraser’s analysis is well suited to be such an intermediate theory, and propose a theoretical device for an evolutional perspective on redistribution and recognition. We concentrate on identifying the stage of the market process at which policy intervenes to remedy redistribution, and the stage of the communication process at which policy intervenes to remedy recognition. Interventions at the entrance stages of both processes are relatively effective and one possibility for such an intervention is to propose Basic Income, which would make it not inconsistent with the capability approach, even though this approach neither directly suggests such a policy not excludes others.

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.

Verwirklichung sozialer Gerechtigkeit in der „Krise“: Freiheit, soziale Verantwortung und öffentlicher Vernunftgebrauch im Rahmen des Capability Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 70 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 383-399
Author(s):  
Julian Molina Romero
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Recommendations For Action ◽  
Soziale Gerechtigkeit ◽  
Soziale Verantwortung ◽  
The Capability Approach

Das Thema soziale Gerechtigkeit steht wieder ganz oben auf der politischen Agenda. Seit die Pandemie-Anfälligkeit der globalen Gesellschaft deutlich vor Augen geführt wurde, wirkt Covid-19 überall wie ein Brandbeschleuniger: Hunger, Armut, gespaltene Gesellschaften, Populismus und Autoritarismus scheinen vermehrt die Folge. Der Bedarf an Handlungsempfehlungen in der Krise ist groß. Der Capability Approach (CA) liefert für die Adressierung aktueller Gerechtigkeitsprobleme ein umfassendes und zugleich praktisches Konzept. Vielversprechend scheint insbesondere der systematische Zusammenhang von Freiheit, sozialer Verantwortung und demokratischer Praxis, der in anderen Ansätzen wie z.B. dem bedingungslosen Grundeinkommen weniger Berücksichtigung findet. Abstract: Realisation of Social Justice in the “Crisis”: Freedom, Social Responsibility and Public Use of Reason Within the Framework of the Capability Approach The issue of social justice is back at the top of the political agenda. Since the pandemic vulnerability of global society has been shown dramatically, Covid-19 has been acting like a multiplier: hunger, poverty, divided societies, populism and authoritarianism seem to be increasingly the result. The need for recommendations for action in the crisis is great. The capability approach (CA) provides a comprehensive and at the same time practical concept for addressing current problems of social justice. Especially, the systematic connection of freedom, social responsibility and democratic practice, which is not considered in other approaches such as the unconditional basic income, seems promising.

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.

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.

ENDORSEMENT AND FREEDOM IN AMARTYA SEN'S CAPABILITY APPROACH

2005 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
SERENA OLSARETTI
Keyword(s):  
Capability Approach ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Exact Role ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Evaluative Space ◽  
Sen’S Capability Approach ◽  
The Capability Approach ◽  
The Way

A central question for assessing the merits of Amartya Sen's capability approach as a potential answer to the “distribution of what”? question concerns the exact role and nature of freedom in that approach. Sen holds that a person's capability identifies that person's effective freedom to achieve valuable states of beings and doings, or functionings, and that freedom so understood, rather than achieved functionings themselves, is the primary evaluative space. Sen's emphasis on freedom has been criticised by G. A. Cohen, according to whom the capability approach either uses too expansive a definition of freedom or rests on an implausibly active, indeed “athletic,” view of well-being. This paper defends the capability approach from this criticism. It argues that we can view the capability approach to be underpinned by an account of well-being which takes the endorsement of valuable functionings as constitutive of well-being, and by a particular view of the way in which endorsement relates to force and choice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document