Development as Freedom Amartya Sen
Hunter Schimpff, Doris Palomino, Megan Lane, Leigh Shoup, Dru Woodrooffe
“ We cannot lose sight of the fact that freedom is an inherently diverse
concept, which involves considerations of processes as well as substantive opportunities” p. 298
Consulting Activity
Instrumental Freedoms
• Political freedoms- i.e. civil rights, free speech
•Economic facilities- i.e. utilization of resources for consumption, production, exchange
•Social opportunities- i.e. education, health care
Instrumental Freedoms (cont.)•Transparency guarantees
- i.e. openness & freedom to deal with one another, guarantees of disclosure
•Protective security- i.e. unemployment assistance, famine relief
Concepts of Freedoms
Freedoms are linked together and can strengthen one another.
• i.e. political freedoms (free speech, elections) promote economic security
• i.e. social freedoms (education, health facilities) promote economic participation
Concepts of Freedoms (cont.)Freedom is central to process of
development.
•Evaluative Reason – “assessment of progress has to be done primarily in terms of whether the freedoms that people have are enhanced”
•Effectiveness Reason – “achievement of development is thoroughly dependent on the free agency of people”
Concepts of Freedom (cont.)Freedom includes:
• Processes –allow freedom of actions (i.e. voting privileges, political & civil rights)
• Opportunities – available to people given their social circumstances (i.e. capability– to escape premature mortality, involuntary starvation)
Poverty & Capability DeprivationPoverty must be seen as the deprivation of basic
capabilities.
• Correlation between income poverty and capability poverty
Advantages of Capability Approach
• income is not the only instrument in generating capabilities
• impact of income on capabilities is contingent and conditional
Markets & Social Opportunities•Growth vs. Development
Democracy & Development
•Lee thesis economic growth is stimulated by denial of political & civil liberties
•Poor people will choose economic needs over political freedom
•Public discussion and debate necessary for development (i.e. need for opposition, openness)
Complexity of Development
• Results are subject to internal and external variables
• Choices involve tradeoffs due to fixed and scarce resources
• Development is not often democratic