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Journal ArticleDOI

Sen's capability approach and gender inequality: selecting relevant capabilities

01 Jan 2003-Feminist Economics (Routledge)-Vol. 9, pp 61-92
TL;DR: In this article, a survey of empirical studies shows that women are worse off than men on some dimensions, better off on others, and similarly placed on yet others, while for some dimensions the evaluation is unclear.
Abstract: This paper investigates how Amartya Sen's capability approach can be applied to conceptualize and assess gender inequality in Western societies. I first argue against the endorsement of a definitive list of capabilities and instead defend a procedural approach to the selection of capabilities by proposing five criteria. This procedural account is then used to generate a list of capabilities for conceptualizing gender inequality in Western societies. A survey of empirical studies shows that women are worse off than men on some dimensions, better off on a few others, and similarly placed on yet others, while for some dimensions the evaluation is unclear. I then outline why, for group inequalities, inequalities in achieved functionings can be taken to reflect inequalities in capabilities, and how an overall evaluation could be arrived at by weighting the different capabilities.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The capability approach is a broad normative framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well-being and social arrangements, the design of policies, and proposals about social change in society.
Abstract: This paper aims to present a theoretical survey of the capability approach in an interdisciplinary and accessible way. It focuses on the main conceptual and theoretical aspects of the capability approach, as developed by Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum, and others. The capability approach is a broad normative framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well‐being and social arrangements, the design of policies, and proposals about social change in society. Its main characteristics are its highly interdisciplinary character, and the focus on the plural or multidimensional aspects of well‐being. The approach highlights the difference between means and ends, and between substantive freedoms (capabilities) and outcomes (achieved functionings).

2,221 citations

Journal ArticleDOI

662 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: The 2010 Human Development Report continues the tradition of pushing the frontiers of development thinking as discussed by the authors, with an introductory reflections by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, who worked with series founder Mahbub ul Haq on the conception of the first human development report and contributed to and inspired many successive volumes.
Abstract: The first Human Development Report in 1990 opened with the simply stated premise that has guided all subsequent Reports: "People are the real wealth of a nation." By backing up this assertion with an abundance of empirical data and a new way of thinking about and measuring development, the Human Development Report has had a profound impact on development policies around the world.This 20th anniversary edition features introductory reflections by the Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, who worked with series founder Mahbub ul Haq on the conception of the first Human Development Report and contributed to and inspired many successive volumes.The 2010 Report continues the tradition of pushing the frontiers of development thinking. For the first time since 1990, the Report looks back rigorously at the past several decades and identifies often surprising trends and patterns with important lessons for the future. These varied pathways to human development show that there is no single formula for sustainable progress — and that impressive long-term gains can and have been achieved even without consistent economic growth.Looking beyond 2010, this Report surveys critical aspects of human development, from political freedoms and empowerment to sustainability and human security, and outlines a broader agenda for research and policies to respond to these challenges.

571 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The innovative use within health economics of further iterative qualitative work in the UK among 19 informants to refine lay terminology for each of the attributes and levels of attributes used in the eventual index is detailed.

468 citations


Cites background from "Sen's capability approach and gende..."

  • ...The work was then linked with the extensive literature on capabilities (Nussbaum, 2003; Robeyns, 2003, 2005) associated particularly with the work of Amartya Sen (1982, 1992, 1993, 2002)....

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References
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Book
01 Jan 1985
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the relationship between well-being and Sex Bias in India and some international comparative comparisons of the two domains, and present a survey of the relationship.
Abstract: 1. Interest, Well-being and Advantage. 2. Commodities and Their Use. 3. Utility, Desire and Happiness. 4. Functioning and Well-being. 5. Valuation and Ranking. 6. Information and Interpretation. 7. Well-being and Advantage. Appendix A: Some International Comparisons. Appendix B: Well-being and Sex Bias in India. Subject Index. Name Index.

4,734 citations

Book
01 Jan 2000
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the role of religion in women's empowerment in international development and defend universal values of love, care, and dignity in the context of women empowerment.
Abstract: Acknowledgments Preface Introduction Feminism and international development 1. In defense of universal values 2. Adaptive preferences and women's options 3. The role of religion 4. Love, care, and dignity.

4,105 citations

Book
01 Jan 1973
TL;DR: In this paper, Amartya Sen relates the theory of welfare economics to the study of economic inequality and presents a systematic treatment of the conceptual framework as well as the practical problems of measurement of inequality.
Abstract: In this classic text, first published in 1973, Amartya Sen relates the theory of welfare economics to the study of economic inequality. He presents a systematic treatment of the conceptual framework as well as the practical problems of measurement of inequality. In his masterful analysis, Sen assesses various approaches to measuring inequality and delineates the causes and effects of economic disparities. Containing the four lectures from the original edition as well as a new introduction, this timeless study is essential reading for economists, philosophers, and social scientists. In a new introduction, Amartya Sen, jointly with James Foster, critically surveys the literature that followed the publication of this book, and also evaluates the main analytical issues in the appraisal of economic inequality and poverty.

2,826 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors argue that capabilities can help us to construct a normative conception of social justice, with critical potential for gender issues, only if we specify a definite set of capabilities as the most important ones to protect.
Abstract: Amartya Sen has made a major contribution to the theory of social justice, and of gender justice, by arguing that capabilities are the relevant space of comparison when justice-related issues are considered. This article supports Sen's idea, arguing that capabilities supply guidance superior to that of utility and resources (the view's familiar opponents), but also to that of the social contract tradition, and at least some accounts of human rights. But I argue that capabilities can help us to construct a normative conception of social justice, with critical potential for gender issues, only if we specify a definite set of capabilities as the most important ones to protect. Sen's "perspective of freedom" is too vague. Some freedoms limit others; some freedoms are important, some trivial, some good, and some positively bad. Before the approach can offer a valuable normative gender perspective, we must make commitments about substance.

2,008 citations