Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice The Capability Approach Re-Examined, 2017a

More documents

Recommendations

Info

4. Critiques and Debates 209 heterodox directions, taking note of a variety of information in making the wide-ranging judgements that have to be made”. The reference to ‘heterodoxy’ that Sen makes here is limited to the informational basis of evaluations, yet in other work he has challenged some of the behavioural assumptions underlying mainstream welfare economics (e.g. Sen 1977a, 1985b). However, other economists believe that we need a much more radical heterodox and pluralist turn in economics, which would also affect meta-theoretical views, the range of methods that can be used (e.g. including qualitative methods), giving up on the belief that economics can be value-free, and engaging much more — and much more respectfully — with the other social sciences, and indeed also with the humanities. What can these heterodox economists expect from the capability approach? The answer to that question flows from the description of the state of economics that was given in section 4.10.1. The unwillingness of mainstream welfare economics to genuinely engage with other disciplines (Fourcade, Ollion and Algan 2015; Nussbaum 2016) clashes with the deeply interdisciplinary nature of the capability approach. The modular view of the capability approach that was presented in chapter 2 makes it possible to see that a heterodox capabilitarian welfare economics is certainly possible. It could not only, as all non-welfarist welfare economics does, include functionings and/or capabilities as ends in the evaluations (A1) and possibly include other aspects of ultimate value too (A6), but it could also include a rich account of human diversity (B3), a richly informed account of agency and structural constraints (B4 and B5) and it could widen its meta-theoretical commitments (B7) to become a discipline that is broader and more open to genuine interdisciplinary learning. Yet the modular account also makes it very clear that mainstream welfare economists can make a range of choices in those modules that are more in line with the status quo in current welfare economics, which would result in a very different type of capabilitarian welfare economics. In short, while both types of capabilitarian welfare economics will depart in some sense from welfarist welfare economics, we are seeing the emergence of both mainstream capabilitarian welfare economics and heterodox capabilitarian welfare economics. The problem for the first is that it will have few means of communication with other capability
210 Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice theories, since it does not adopt many of the interdisciplinary choices that most other capability theories make. The problem for the latter is that it will not be taken seriously by mainstream economics, since it does not meet the narrow requirements of what counts as economics according to the vast majority of mainstream economists. Taking everything together, a capabilitarian welfare economics is possible, but (a) it will be harder to develop the capability approach in welfare economics than in some other disciplines because of the methodological and meta-theoretical clashes and restrictions, and (b) the difficult position that welfare economics occupies within mainstream economics will become even more challenging, since moving in the direction of the capability approach conflicts with the criteria that the gatekeepers in mainstream economists impose on anyone who wants to do something considered ‘economics’. This may also explain why there is much less work done in welfare economics on the capability approach, compared to some other disciplines or fields in which the capability approach has made a much bigger impact. In this chapter, we have engaged with a range of critiques that have been voiced about the capability approach, or debates that have developed in the capability literature. While I hope that I have been fair in representing all viewpoints, I have in many cases argued for a particular way of looking at the problem, and in a significant number of cases argued that critiques must be reformulated in order to be sound, or did not sufficiently appreciate the modular structure of the general capability approach or the distinction between the capability approach and capability theories. Several of the critiques presented in this chapter had bite as a critique of a particular type of capability theory, but not of the capability approach in general. The next and final (and very short!) chapter will not provide a summary of the previous chapters, but rather offer some thoughts and speculations on what the future of the capability approach could look like, which issues will need to be addressed to unlock its full potential, and which limitations will always need to be reckoned with.
Page 1 and 2:
Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justi
Page 4 and 5:
Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justi
Page 6 and 7:
Contents Acknowledgements 3 1. Intr
Page 8 and 9:
3. Clarifications 89 3.1 Introducti
Page 10:
4.7 What about power and political
Page 14 and 15:
Acknowledgements In 1998, when I st
Page 16 and 17:
Acknowledgements 5 the capability a
Page 18 and 19:
1. Introduction Many people who en
Page 20 and 21:
1. Introduction 9 capability approa
Page 22 and 23:
1. Introduction 11 Moreover, it bri
Page 24 and 25:
1. Introduction 13 Countries Outsi
Page 26 and 27:
1. Introduction 15 capabilities of
Page 28 and 29:
1. Introduction 17 their collaborat
Page 30 and 31:
1. Introduction 19 This book has a
Page 32 and 33:
2. Core Ideas and the Framework Th
Page 34 and 35:
2. Core Ideas and the Framework 23
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51:
Page 52 and 53:
Page 54 and 55:
Page 56 and 57:
Page 58 and 59:
Page 60 and 61:
Page 62 and 63:
Page 64 and 65:
Page 66 and 67:
Page 68 and 69:
Page 70 and 71:
Page 72 and 73:
Page 74 and 75:
Page 76 and 77:
Page 78 and 79:
Page 80 and 81:
Page 82 and 83:
Page 84 and 85:
Page 86 and 87:
Page 88 and 89:
Page 90 and 91:
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98:
Page 101 and 102:
90 Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Ju
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
100 Wellbeing, Freedom and Social J
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170: 158 Wellbeing, Freedom and Social J
Page 219: 208 Wellbeing, Freedom and Social J
Page 262 and 263: Index abortion 15, 145 advantage 25
Page 264 and 265: Index 253 Fleurbaey, Marc 154 flour
Page 266 and 267: Index 255 political institutions 14
Page 268: Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justi
show all

Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice The Capability Approach Re-Examined, 2017a

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?