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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.
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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
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 Deprivation Poverty 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