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

2. Core Ideas and the Framework
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The fifth B-module is the account of structural constraints: the institutions,
policies, laws, social norms and so forth, that people in different social
positions face. Those differences in the structural constraints that people
face can have a great influence on their conversion factors, and hence
on their capability sets. For example, if relationships between people
of the same sex are criminalised, then gay people may have all the
means and resources they would wish, but they will still not be able to
enjoy a happy family life. Or if people of colour face explicit or implicit
discrimination on the labour market, then they will not be able to use
the same labour-market resources (their degrees, training, experience)
to generate the same levels of capabilities in the professional sphere of
life, compared with groups that face no (or less) discrimination.
In addition, structural constraints also play a role in the shaping
of people’s capabilities that are not heavily dependent on material
resources. If one group of people is, for cultural, historical or religious
reasons, stigmatized as outcasts, then they will be treated with
disrespect by other groups in society. The same holds for all groups
that suffer from stigma, such as, for example, people with psychiatric
disorders or other mental health issues. These structural constraints will
also affect the capabilities that do not rely on resources directly, such as
opportunities for friendships or for a healthy sense of self-confidence.
Which of those structural constraints will be important for a
particular capability analysis will depend on the context. For example,
in her study of the living standards of waste pickers, scavengers, and
plastic recycling and scrap trading entrepreneurs in Delhi, Kaveri Gill
(2010) showed that caste plays a very important role in the capability
sets of different castes. For example, those at the very bottom of the
hierarchical ladder of waste workers — the waste pickers — have no
opportunities for upward mobility due to social norms and societal
discrimination related to their caste. In this study, social norms related
to caste are key as a structural constraint; in other studies, it may be the
anatomy of twenty-first century capitalism, or gender norms in genderstratified
societies, or some other set of structural constraints.