Empowerment Approach

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The formal approach or realization chance approach (also skills approach , English capability approach ) is a concept that is used to display and measurement of the individual and social welfare. It was originally developed by the Indian economist and recipient of the Alfred Nobel Memorial Prize for Economics, Amartya Sen, from 1979 and further expanded in various projects supported by the United Nations. The empowerment approach provides the theoretical basis for the Human Development Index and the Human Poverty Index - replaced by the Multidimensional Poverty Index in 2010 - which is accounted for in world development reports since 1990 and increasingly in other reports on wealth and poverty.

The aim of the empowerment approach is to measure prosperity in a society using several parameters - until then it was common in welfare economics to use an income parameter as a one-dimensional measure. The main question is what a person needs for a good, fulfilling life. Material goods and resources are seen as important means for this purpose - but not as ends in themselves. In addition, it is about qualifications (synonymous: realization opportunities) that people must have so that they can shape their lives successfully. The question of skills goes beyond concepts that focus on living standards and human rights in that it includes a requirement that society actively contribute to the development of a better life for all of its members. The approach is suitable for describing inequality and poverty in a multidimensional way, taking into account various influencing factors, and presenting objectives and their achievement for social developments. For this reason, the approach is increasingly discussed and used, especially in development policy and with regard to social justice .

In developing the concept, Sen worked with the United Nations Development Program and other United Nations agencies . The moral philosopher Martha Nussbaum , the development economist Sudhir Anand and the economic theorist James Foster participated in his research . To further spread the concept, Sen and Nussbaum founded the Human Development and Capability Association in 2004 , an organization to which over 700 scientists in over 40 countries belonged after just a few years.

Realization opportunities as freedoms: Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen during a lecture at the University of Cologne in 2007 on the occasion of the award of the Meister Eckhart Prize

Sen bases his concept on a differentiated concept of freedom. Freedom is an intrinsic value because it enables people to live independently. In addition to the absence of obstacles ( negative freedom ), it also includes the possibility of acting according to one's own wishes (positive freedom). Freedom is therefore a normative goal, an end in itself. A society is all the more just, the more its members have chances of realization. The normative lies in the endeavor to integrate subjectively existing and objectively possible determinations of individual life. In practice, the demand for positive freedoms leads to the demand to create concrete living conditions.

Its instrumental functions are to be distinguished from the constitutive (fundamental) function of freedom. The latter serve the people as a means to ensure the basic value of freedom and thus the chances of realization. Sen is one of the instrumental freedoms

  1. political freedoms (criticism, objection, right to vote, etc.)
  2. economic institutions (resources, conditions of exchange, distribution)
  3. social opportunities (education, health)
  4. Transparency guarantees (freedom of the press, information obligations, e.g. against corruption)
  5. social security (unemployment insurance, social assistance, minimum wages)
Life expectancy and income of
selected countries in 1994
country Income
in US dollars
Life expectancy
in years
Kerala 400 73
People's Republic of China 500 71
Sri Lanka 600 73
Namibia 1,900 60
Brazil 2,800 65
South Africa 3,000 65
Gabon 3,900 55

According to Sen, constitutive freedom depends on the extent of instrumental freedom. Based on empirical studies , he shows that there are interrelationships and complementarities between the instrumental freedoms. Accordingly, income is a fundamental factor for prosperity and thus for chances of realization. However, other factors are also important. So correlates the life expectancy ambiguous with income. Because there are countries with a comparatively high average life expectancy whose average per capita income is significantly lower than in some other countries with a lower life expectancy. Basic needs in the form of goods are only important instrumentally and not by themselves (intrinsically). “The value of the standard of living lies in a certain way of life and not in the possession of goods that have a derived and varying relevance.” Those who make material goods the measure of a good life are caught up in what Karl Marx called “commodity fetishism”. “In fact, people seem to have very different needs that vary in terms of health, longevity, climatic conditions, place of residence, working conditions, temperament and individual height (with an influence on food and clothing needs). If you ignore this, you not only ignore a few special cases, but also overlook very wide-spread and real differences. "

Overview of the qualification approach

In order to evaluate welfare in a specific constellation , Sen suggests measuring the degree of the "objective possibility" of realization opportunities (qualification approach). Sen describes an available chance of realization (possibility of action) as "Functioning" (function, ability). “A functioning is something that has been achieved, while a capability is the ability to achieve something. In a sense, skills are more closely related to living conditions. Realization opportunities, on the other hand, are concepts of freedom in the positive sense: what possibilities one has for the life that one would like to lead. ”Abilities are concrete actions (“ doings ”) and states (“ beings ”), while realization opportunities“ the various combinations of skills that a person can reach. Realization opportunities are thus a bundle (vector) of skills that reflect that a person has the opportunity to lead one life or the other. ”Robeyns illustrates the difference using the example of a bicycle. This is an object that allows you to get around faster than walking. The chance of realization is that one has the opportunity to learn to ride a bike. Once you've made up your mind and learned to ride a bike, you have the ability to move faster. Prerequisites for the acquisition of the skill are on the one hand personal characteristics (physical and mental) and on the other hand social characteristics (infrastructure, institutions, social practices). If personal and social characteristics are missing, there are also no corresponding chances of realization. Since people have prerequisites tied to the person and are in different situations, are involved in different social contexts and have different personal preferences, the chances of realization are different for each individual.

The original starting point for Sen was the criticism that in welfare economics one cannot use preferences for an interpersonal comparison. The distinction between capabilities and capabilities (functionings) enables two approaches to measurement. In the case of skills, a bundle of objectively available options for action (“agencies”) that are available to the individual is measured. So the person fasting in a rich society has different options for action compared to the starving person in a poor society. For Sen, skills are more measurable than benefits and also better suited for an interpersonal comparison. However, it is in the nature of things that a multidimensional evaluation space is more difficult to operationalize. As examples of indicators for measuring skills, Sen cites:

  • can eat enough
  • have clothing and housing
  • be able to participate in social life
  • To be able to show oneself in public without shame.

Such abilities have a fundamental character (universality), but their characteristics differ from society to society (historically and culturally). A procedure is therefore needed to assess their relevance. Especially against alternative concepts (Rawls, Nussbaum - see below), Sen emphasizes his view that such a list cannot be drawn up in an exhaustive manner.

According to Sen, participatory social decisions based on a democratic discourse are required in order to determine which chances of realization are considered valuable in a society and which constitute prosperity . In this way, the chances of realization that can only be determined for the individual are integrated into the social context. Real freedom therefore also demands active citizens who take advantage of their opportunities by participating. Sen thus formulates a "republican-liberal understanding of politics". The participatory discourse ensures that the qualification approach is constantly renewed and updated as society continues to develop.

Because the empowerment approach can be used not only in the assessment of poverty, but also in the discussion of social inequality and questions of justice , Sen has made a distinction between general opportunities and basic opportunities, as a subset, which denote the minimum level of opportunity. The basic chances of having a doctor or clean water are part of the basic chances of realizing health, while hormone treatment is not one of the basic needs.

Cosmetic surgery without a special medical indication, on the other hand, can be classified as a luxury need, even if a mannequin may need a straight nose for professional reasons. The distinction between exclusive and inexpensive taste when assessing the available freedoms is difficult even in the skills approach. This applies generally to the wide range of social norms. Sen proposes the distinction between “refined chances of realization”, which can be used within defined areas.

“Human diversity is not a minor complication (which can be ignored or 'addressed' later); rather, it is a fundamental aspect of our interest in equality. ”This has consequences for the assessment of welfare. "The standard measures all basically benefit from the focus on the income dimension and ultimately overlook the fundamental fact of human diversity and the fundamental importance of freedom."

Sen sees the decisive advantage of his conception over the previously dominant views in the amount of information that goes into the evaluation.

“Although there is much to be learned from the way the question of information is dealt with in these important approaches to political philosophy, I will also argue that any information base explicitly or implicitly in utilitarianism, radical liberalism, and Rawl's theory receives, suffers from serious defects, provided that the substantial freedoms of the individual are considered important. "

Especially in utilitarianism , the information content is one-dimensionally geared towards the benefit. For Sen, utilitarianism and the associated welfare economy has the advantage that it evaluates the consequences of actions and is oriented towards the general good, but it has no solutions available for questions of distribution, for guaranteeing fundamental rights and freedoms and can also differ in evaluation due to Do not record adaptations to different cultural and social conditions (e.g. the evaluation of the realization chances of women in liberal and sexist societies).

The liberalism , however, especially in the radical formulation Robert Nozick , is, according to Sen "negative" liberties absolute, d. That is, it does not take into account the negative effects of absolute freedom, so that in extreme cases even famines are theoretically compatible with the procedural requirements of the liberalist. Purely procedural principles cannot reflect the deficiency that formally existing opportunities cannot be taken due to actual circumstances. In radical liberalism, information about inequalities and injustices is ignored when evaluating justice, Sen stated.

In relation to Rawls' theory of justice as fairness, Sen objects that he places negative (absolute) freedom, including political and civil rights, as a priority over questions of distribution. This could mean that the elimination of inequalities and injustices fails because of the absolute values.

"Above all, however, the question arises as to whether the value of freedom for society is adequately expressed in the weight that a person is inclined to attribute in the judgment of their overall advantage."

He explains this point of criticism based on the conflict between freedom and security in a society. To a certain extent it is conceivable that those involved in the discourse see an improvement in their chances of realization in a restriction of freedom in favor of security. Sen therefore doubts that Rawls' free "original state" is actually suitable for describing a fair distribution of individual chances of realization. He regards the focus on primary goods at Rawls as a "fetish". The primacy is not in material goods as such, but in the relationship between the person and the goods. Otherwise he emphasizes that his concept is heavily influenced by Rawls.

Sen, whose starting point is reflections on development policy and justice in a globalized world , examines justice under the aspect of whether it is seen as universal for all people or only in particular in relation to individual nations .

Different political approaches emerge depending on the perspective. Universalistic , Sen argues, is utilitarianism or the rational ethics of Kant. On the other hand, particularistic is communitarianism, which only focuses on the different perspectives of social communities and social groups within a nation. Even if universalism seems to enable a clear conception of global justice that cannot be dismissed, it is confronted with the problem that a global institution, such as a world government , with the appropriate power and resources is required for its implementation . However, the United Nations in question do not have adequate facilities.

Since Rawls' concept also requires a regulatory institution, Sen says that it is initially only partially applicable. Rawls has shown ways in which the principle of “justice as fairness” can also be applied to the relationship between different peoples, if the states are viewed as individuals between which a balance takes place according to the principle of fairness. Sen describes this intergovernmental view as an “international approach”, which represents a compromise between the practically impossible to implement universalism, which is nevertheless to be striven for, and the only national egoistic particularism . Even with this model, global justice can only be inadequately achieved.

Instead, Sen proposes a concept that he calls "plural integration". All transnational institutions should contribute to the further development of global justice, from intergovernmental agreements to multinational companies (for example in questions of fair pay) to social groups and non-governmental organizations .

Sen's empowerment approach has gained wide international recognition. The report emphasizes “Living conditions in Germany. The 2nd Poverty and Wealth Report of the Federal Government, “that the concept has found an essential part in the report.

Basic qualifications: Martha Nussbaum

Martha Nussbaum worked closely with Amartya Sen from 1986 to 1993 on a United Nations University project at the World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). In doing so, it has developed a closely related, but independent approach to qualifications in terms of justification and formulation. Often both concepts and their original representatives are mentioned at the reception at the same time. Nussbaum emphasizes that the premise of the empowerment approach is the dignity of living beings, which requires the respect and esteem to which living beings are entitled. "The aim of the project as a whole is to philosophically underpin fundamental constitutional principles that they will be respected and implemented by all governments of all nations as a bare minimum of what respect for human dignity requires." Your understanding of dignity goes beyond that from Kant and Rawls when she viewed them not only on the rational, but also on the emotional and social level.

While Sen focuses on the existing individual freedoms as qualifications and leaves the specific expression to a participatory discourse, Nussbaum is convinced that it is possible to describe universally valid basic values ​​that are necessary in order to achieve a can lead a rich (flourishing) life. Nussbaum sees the epistemological basis for this in an internalist essentialism . This is the view that although there is a world independent of man, this is only accessible through man's cognitive apparatus. The world as it appears to man has always been interpreted by him. This is in contrast to metaphysical essentialism, according to which the essence of the world and thus also the essence of man can at least in the course of time be recognized as they really are. The essentialism formulated in this way or also internal realism ( Hilary Putnam ) means that anthropologically valid statements can be made about basic human conditions, which are often culturally shaped, but are essentially independent of different cultures. Such basic conditions are, for example, hunger or health, but also the ability to cooperate with other people. If the person is now adequately supplied with food and has no physical problems, he will rate these situations as good. If a person has the necessary basic skills, then he has the prerequisites for a good life.

Nussbaum distinguishes three types of qualifications in a kind of step model (SJ 41)

  • Basic skills: These are a prerequisite for an individual to develop further skills. They include hearing, seeing, language development, for example.
  • Internal skills: These are in particular skills that are acquired through education and training in order to be able to translate them into practical functions.
  • Combined skills: These are the internal skills for which the external institutional and material framework is also available.

Like Sen - albeit not congruently - Nussbaum differentiates between “capabilities” and capabilities (“functions”). She illustrates the difference in the ability to play. “A person who has the opportunity to play can always choose to live a busy (workaholic) life; there is a big difference between this chosen life and a life that is limited because of insufficient protection by maximum working hours and / or because of the "double day" which prevents women in many parts of the world from playing. "(SJ 44)

While Sen's qualifications describe a space of open possibilities as chances of realization, which through choice becomes a bundle of capabilities, Nussbaum describes “capability” as a basic qualification, the achievable level in a dimension of life that is not restricted by external circumstances . “Sen had focused on the ability to narrow the range of quality of life measurement; I am using the idea in a more rigorous way as a function of basic political principles that provide constitutional guarantees. "

Nussbaum advocates the thesis that one can draw up a list containing the essential basic qualifications across cultures based on empirical and historical experiences about human nature. Due to the reference to experience, the basic qualifications listed in the list are not systematically based on a uniform principle. This list must be valid across national and temporal boundaries. Nussbaum does not consider a separation of normative and scientific aspects to be useful when determining human nature. What is constitutive for man cannot be determined without judgment. So your concept is normative. For Nussbaum, such a list is open, expandable and can be changed through an intercultural discussion. The aim must be to reach a political consensus on the list. "It [the list] is, we at least hope, formulated in the terms of a free-standing ethical ideal, with no dependence on metaphysical or epistemological doctrines (about the soul, or a revelation, or the negation of these) that citizens along the borders from religion or broader ethical theories. It is therefore hoped that this concept can be the subject of an overlapping consensus between citizens who otherwise have fundamentally different views. "

Basic experience and basic skills at Martha Nussbaum
Essential characteristics of man Basic qualifications
Mortality (mortality)
All people are aware of their mortality and
have under normal circumstances, an
aversion to death
Life (Life)
ability to a life worth living
to live and not prematurely
to die
Physicality (human body)
- hunger and thirst: Regardless
of the shape, people need nutrition
and a healthy body
- need for protection: people need
protection from natural influences (heat, rain, wind, cold)
but also from attacks by other people
- sexual Desire: The sex drive
can be suppressed, but it
is the basis of reproduction
- Mobility: Its absence
is perceived as a disability
Physical integrity (bodily integrity)
capability, to enjoy good health
and enough to feed

capability to have adequate housing
and against violence or sexual assault
protected to be
-Ability to sexual satisfaction
and reproduction

-Ability to adapt to a move to another place

Joy and pain (capacity for pleasure and pain)
All people have the feeling of joy and pain, but
experience them differently depending on their culture
Emotional experience (emotions)
Ability to avoid unnecessary pain
and to have joyful experiences
and to live without traumatic experiences
Senses,
imagination and thought
Without perception, imagination and thinking
, humans could not orientate themselves in the world
Cognitive skills (cognitive capacities)
ability of his five senses, his imagination
and his intellectual abilities to use
, including access to education
and the right to their own religion
Early childhood development
All people develop
from neediness and dependency as an infant
in a process into an independent person
Confidence (trust)
ability to bind to things or people
to love, sadness, gratitude or longing
Practical reason (practical reason)
It is in the nature of man,
to assess situations and
to plan his actions
Idea of good (imagination of goodness)
ability a conception of the good,
to develop and a good life
to plan their own lives and to reflect critically
Connectedness with other people (affiliation)
people are living in relation to others,
need recognition and
have the feeling of sympathy and compassion
Sociality (Concern for other Humans)
Ability to interact socially,
to identify with others and to have the feeling of
respect for others (protection from
discrimination, sense of justice, friendship)
Affinity with other species and nature
(dependence on and respect for other species and nature)
The environment instills respect
and people need to
treat it and other living beings with care
Ecological connection
Ability to sympathize with and
to live in relation to animals, plants and the world of nature
Humor and games (play)
If children do not laugh or play, this
is considered a sign of a disorder.
People strive for relaxation
Leisure activities
Ability to laugh, play
and enjoy recreational activities
A: separateness (separateness)
Every person is an individual
with their own feelings and individual
characteristics and self-respect
Isolation
Ability
to live your own life and not that of someone else (autonomy)
B: Strong separateness (strong separateness)
Man has the need to differentiate,
to distinguish between "mine" and "not-mine" and
this difference would regulate in relation to other
Strong isolation
Ability to (politically) influence
one's social context ( civil rights, freedom of speech,
freedom of assembly, protection against arbitrary state decisions),
to shape one's life through one's own efforts
(right to work)
and to be able to dispose of what has been created
property rights

The starting point of their considerations for a concrete list is the doctrine of virtues of Aristotle , who derives his virtues from the various basic life situations of man. “He begins with the characterization of a universal area of ​​experience and decision-making and introduces the name of virtue as the (not yet defined) designation for correct action in this area of ​​experience, whatever it may be. If one proceeds from this approach, one cannot say - as the relativist would like it to be - that a factually given society does not contain something that corresponds to a virtue. ”Thus the virtue of bravery is suitable for coping with life situations with fear great damage, especially before death. Similarly, moderation is the virtue with which one adequately handles corporeal desires and related pleasures.

In line with this concept, Nussbaum's first step was to compile an intuitive, concrete list with ten areas of basic human experience. This list is not exhaustive, but is intended to describe the areas of human life that are essential for being human. This means that beings who do not have appropriate basic experience do not have the property of being human, or at least not fully. In a second step, Nussbaum derives skills from the respective basic experiences that a person must have so that he is not restricted in his humanity; consequently he has the possibility for a successful life. Nussbaum puts these qualifications together in a second list in an analogous manner. It has presented its list in a number of publications and the structures of these are largely unchanged. The table opposite is based primarily on the version in "Justice or the good life" (1999), but also takes into account more recent reformulations in "Frontiers of Justice" (2006)

For Nussbaum, a good life is not guaranteed if only one component of its ten points is not fulfilled. However, this does not mean that the disabled cannot lead a full life. For them and their dignity, however, a greater degree of care is required. Correspondingly, conversely, there are political demands to ensure these points as a minimum standard in a society, whether for disabled or non-disabled people. In motivating her political demands, Nussbaum refers on the one hand to Aristotle: “[...] because everyone agrees that it implies an allocation of things and people and that it must be the same for equals; but one must not remain in the dark about what the equality and what the inequality of persons should consist of, because that is precisely the issue at issue. ”(Aristotle, Politik, 1282b 20) On the other hand, philosophy also plays a role in the question of self-realization of the early Karl Marx played an important role: “You can see how rich people and rich human needs take the place of economic wealth and misery. The rich person is at the same time the person who needs a totality of the human expression of life. The person in whom his own realization exists, as an inner necessity, as a need. ”With the qualifications a social minimum should be determined. Accordingly, “the structure of social and political institutions should be guaranteed from the point of view, at least in part, that they promote at least a lower limit of these human capabilities.” In terms of content, Nussbaum sees a close relationship to the concept of human rights and the corresponding discussions.

As with Sen, Nussbaum's approach to skills is also internationally oriented. “Many of the most pressing problems of distribution and justice that people who live in nation-states face are now also international problems, and their effective solution requires global communication and joint efforts. [...] If we want to survive as a species and a planet, we have to think about wellbeing and justice worldwide. "

In contrast to Rawls, who describes his premises in the selection of basic goods as a weak theory of the good, Nussbaum speaks of a “vaguely dense conception of the good”. By this it means that it does not limit itself to abstract principles, but rather presents a concrete list as a minimum standard, which the state must ensure that it is implemented. However, the state is only responsible for providing the capabilities, not for how the citizen uses these basic qualifications. Whether someone uses the educational offerings made available is up to them. Whether someone exercises political rights such as freedom of speech is a matter of decision. In terms of the practical design, Nussbaum's concept remains vague. However, the state has to provide the institutional framework. “The idea is that the entire structure of the community is designed with those skills and activities in mind. Not only the allocation programs, but also the distribution of the land, the forms of ownership, the organization of working conditions, the institutional promotion of the family and social relationships, environmental protection and leisure and recreational facilities - all of this, as well as the more specific programs and measures in these areas are chosen with a view to a good human life. "

The limit of this approach is that it is limited to establishing basic skills. "If the state has provided educational opportunities for every citizen that are sufficient to bring them over a threshold - however defined - further efforts can reasonably be left to the people, as they have good prerequisites due to the skills already achieved, Nussbaum does not see himself in contradiction to liberalism because her conception of the good remains vague to the extent that, once the qualifications are available, people must be free to decide how to apply them. “The capabilities approach, as I have formulated it, is very close to Rawls' approach and his naming of basic goods. The list of capabilities can be set up as a long list of possibilities for functions in such a way that it is always rational, whatever else you want. "

Formalization of the competency approach

In the small font Commodities and Capabilities , Amartya Sen showed in a short sketch how his approach can be formalized and presented as a functional model. The English word “commodities” stands for goods in a more general sense, ie for goods and services. The benefit of formalization is that the terms used can be converted into econometric models with which logical relationships can be better researched. Implementations of this modeling can be found in various papers that deal with the qualification approach. The representation chosen here is an addition made by Ingrid Robeyns with regard to environmental factors.

the amount of bundles of goods that a person i can reach.

the vector (the bundle) of goods that a person i has (bread, bicycle, book) The available goods have different properties that can be used differently depending on the individual factors of person i and the existing environmental conditions. A classic example is the television for the blind.

the (not necessarily linear) function with which a vector of goods is converted into a vector of the properties of these goods (bread - food, bicycle - exercise, books - education, work equipment, reading fun)

the vector of environmental conditions that describes the influence of infrastructure and social framework on person i.

a bundle (set) of functions from which the person i selects their individual combination of achievable abilities.

the individual function, which describes the selected conversion of the properties and environmental conditions into functions. (Bread - nutrition - breakfast, bicycle - exercise - excursion, book - education - being able to speak a foreign language) Sen describes as an individual "utilization function".

the vector of the skills achieved, which results from the choice of the application function by the person i (specific foreign language: Italian; occupation: chimney sweep). describes the concrete being of a person.

for some and some represents a person's freedoms i to choose from a vector of skills achieved when taking into account their personal characteristics and the goods available from them . can be referred to as the capabilities or the capability of a person i. The vector and the function are initially only a description of the state and do not yet say anything about how this state is to be assessed with regard to well-being. One more step is required for this.

a function that describes the happiness of a person with the abilities they have achieved. The result of this function is a concrete value that expresses the satisfaction of the person with the achieved state. The function and its result are also still descriptive. They do not yet make a statement about how someone evaluates their status and satisfaction. The poor beggar in a corrugated iron hut who cannot read finds that he is not happy because of these conditions. Sen distinguishes between measuring happiness and evaluating life as two different levels.

the evaluation function of the achieved skills with which the person i or an external observer e rate the personal life and the achieved status of the person i.

for some , then is the set of values ​​of wellbeing that one can achieve for a given evaluation function .

Sen emphasizes that it is not easy to identify the maximum value in , even if it were selected, since there are motives other than one's own good as the basis of actions (compassion, care, tradition, religious commandments). Sen also regards an expansion of freedoms as an improvement in well-being, even if the additional options for action are not used (vacation of a citizen of the former GDR on the Baltic Sea after 1989). He regards the question as open of whether the satisfaction function itself becomes part of the application function if a measurable satisfaction criterion is found. There are also qualifications such as a long life, being free from malaria or being able to move around in public without shame, which are difficult to operationalize as goods. The situation is similar with the relationship between public and private goods and marketable and non-market services within a household (nursing). Finally, Sen emphasizes that the model does not require completeness, but rather represents a partial order in relation to the selected capabilities, which nevertheless depicts reality better than alternative models that contain completeness but are less differentiated.

Similarly, with reference to classical economic theories, Robeyns points out that formalizations lose their value when they become too unrealistic or too reductive. Above all, the mathematical view must not displace the perspective of economics or other social sciences. According to Robeyns, the existence of meaningful empirical studies raises the question of the extent to which an expansion of the formalization is conducive to a further development of the qualification approach.

Operationalization of the skills approach

According to Sen, the qualification approach can be used for several purposes. Subjects can be topics of social philosophy as diverse as welfare, poverty, freedom, questions of discrimination against women, justice and social ethics. Ingrid Robeyns emphasizes that Sens's approach to empowerment has to be viewed from three perspectives.

  • He is a model of thought.
  • It is a criticism of other approaches to assessing welfare.
  • It is a formula for the interpersonal comparison of welfare.

The qualification approach, especially in the formulation by Amartya Sen, is open and underdetermined. It can therefore be supplemented and specified in very different ways. A powerful and widely received example is Martha Nussbaum's formulation. The possible uses range from welfare economics to gender equality and distributive justice to issues of development policy. The approach, even in the more specific version by Nussbaum, does not prescribe any indicators or methods for measuring the chances of realization. The investigations can be theoretical, analytical or empirical in-depth research and reviews. The spectrum of studies and investigations that relate to the qualification approach in their theoretical framework is correspondingly broad. Robeyns reports on a number of specific studies:

  • Amartya Sen made the first empirical statements as early as 1985 when he compared life expectancy, the survival rate of newborns and child mortality in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, India, Sri Lanka or China (see above) and came to the conclusion that income was only these variables insufficiently reflects.
  • Another, more qualitative study of local development projects comes from Sabina Alkire, who examined three specific projects (goat rearing, literacy for women and the production of rose garlands) in Pakistan and compared them with the statements made in income statistics.
  • Another direction of investigation is the identification of the group of the poor in developing countries and the delimitation of this group by various indicators compared to income. Such studies usually use existing income statistics that are based on household income.
  • There are also studies for developed countries that contrast income poverty with the status of welfare based on certain chances of realization. Alessandro Balestrino did this for the functions of education, nutrition and health. Shelley Phillips has carried out a study in which she examined household income and ten skills ("functionings") as indicators for children in Canada, Norway and the USA.
  • In the area of ​​the handicapped there are also studies on the chances of realization. The problem with this group of people lies on two levels. On the one hand, due to their disability, they usually only get jobs with comparatively poor pay. On the other hand, due to their disability, they usually have a considerable additional expense to compensate for their disability compared to non-disabled people.
  • On the subject of gender inequality, Sen has worked out significant disadvantages for women for India, especially for mortality in certain age groups, diet and life expectancy. There are similar studies for developed countries.

The qualification approach in the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission , a committee of experts appointed by Nicolas Sarkozy , to which Amartya Sen worked as a scientific advisor, gained practical significance . The report from September 2009 explicitly focuses on the question of the chances of realization. The OECD also makes express reference to the work of Amartya Sen in its Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies .

The empowerment approach in the education system and in social work

In German-speaking the formal approach is increasingly used in the social sciences contexts as a theoretical basis, in the poverty research, child and adolescent research, education or social work . Sometimes the reception of the approach is apparently shortened and not sufficiently differentiated.

From the perspective of social work, the principle of increasing the chances of realization is often valued in the qualification approach. The evaluation scale after the formal approach "is the contribution of social work for the qualitative and quantitative expansion of the space of possibilities and capabilities of their addressees, to be able to opt for the implementation of different actions and ways of being." Some authors advocate, in view of the abundance of observable qualifications, concretizing the qualifications from the point of view of public welfare and educational institutions on a fundamental core area. Again, this line of argument is controversial because it could lead to inappropriately patronizing social work clients.

In youth work there is an open and positive image of young people , the entirety of young people is addressed. In the field of juvenile justice , social work is subject to a double mandate of help and control. On the one hand, it sees itself as a provider of help for accused young people and at the same time should participate in controls and sanctions , although "it cannot be assumed that (...) the sanctions are beneficial for the development of young people." The qualification approach offers a profound change in perspective in promoting young people People and can be understood as an appeal to the self-image of representatives of juvenile court assistance, but also of the judiciary. Because it is not specifically about successfully coping with problem situations in the sense of socio-educational or socio-political thinking, but rather about successful self-realization in the sense of the development of the subjective youth will, not a generally defined youth welfare. In view of Sens's efforts to create an improved objective basis for comparing human well-being (see above), however, it can also be questioned whether this position is an appropriate understanding of the qualification approach.

In addition, it cannot be deduced from the qualification approach whether standard systems of school-based or vocational training and further education or special support offers are more suitable to improve the chances of realization for unemployed and disadvantaged young people. From the final report of the international research project SocIEtY there are indications that standard systems offer greater chances of realization than special transitional measures .

criticism

According to Nussbaum, the capability approach claims to support only capabilities and not functioning. Rutger Claassen tries to show that this claim cannot be met in several ways, even in theory. He also raises the question of whether any political-paternalistic implications of the approach can be limited. With Feinberg, Claassen differentiates between paternalism that promotes well-being and one that prevents self-harm. For him, as for Feinberg, a theory or a policy is paternalistic if it hinders the freedom of a person to harm himself intentionally (hard paternalism) or negligently (soft paternalism). Nussbaum wants to limit the exceptions in which the functioning should also be supported to children and minors, but Claassen assumes that adults also have to train their skills permanently; the age-dependent demarcation is arbitrary and the idea that one acquires the capabilities once for a lifetime and then “owns” them is unrealistic. If Nussbaum thinks that the difficulty of making rational health decisions, for example, allows exceptions in the sense of supporting functioning as well, they already deviate from the premise of the voluntary nature of decisions. Even if insufficient functioning affects the capabilities such as For example, in the case of psychological problems that involuntarily hinder the ability to socialize, this would be a reason for Nussbaum to intervene, since this is a situation in which the individual cannot make a voluntary decision about his or her social contacts. According to Nussbaum, a voluntary waiver of capabilities (e.g. through suicide) can also justify state intervention. Here Claassen argues that the free choice between the value of the capability that one gives up and the (negative) value of the future non-existence of this capability is restricted. Social pressure or state incentives to take advantage of the promotion of capabilities (let's assume: from preventive examinations or qualification measures for the labor market, so-called nudging ), represent a form of support for functioning. The few exceptions described by Nussbaum On closer inspection, they develop an expansive paternalistic dynamic.

The ten basic capabilities on Nussbaum's list are also highly correlated with one another. H. each is also the prerequisite for several others, so that it cannot be clearly justified which capability is actually ensured by the support of the functioning, which Nussbaum intended as an exception. According to Claassen, if the list is actually irreducible, according to Nussbaum, paternalism is inevitable.

The assessment of the degree to which the approach is paternalistic depends, according to Claassen, on answering three questions: How high is the minimum threshold for capabilities (should people be able to write and read or should their artistic abilities be developed?), How extensive is the list of basic capabilities, and how to deal with the individual's responsibility for loss of capabilities e.g. B. be circumvented through negligent or willful self-damaging behavior? How many chances should you give him? The higher the level of capabilities, the more extensive the list and the more massive the state interference in the voluntary decision of individuals who do not even strive for a certain level of functioning, the harder the paternalism. The Capability Approach is probably a hidden functioning approach .

Even Thomas Gutmann criticized that a theory formulated, the ability of individuals to effective freedom as a goal, could have far-reaching consequences paternalistic. The approach could serve as a foundation for state interventions in order to generate or maintain a person's autonomy, without there being any internal theoretical criteria to limit the scope of these interventions. However, in this respect the empowerment approach does better than utilitarianism.

Another criticism relates to the perfectionism of the approach: the identification and preference for specific capabilities as moral and political preconditions for some people's ideas of the good life is not neutral.

Uwe H. Bittlingmayer and Holger Ziegler see a research question in the application of the approach to the public health sector, the development of which also shows social constructivist references from body and beauty concepts to health-oriented lifestyles. On the one hand, one must avoid imposing models of life on individuals; on the other hand, one should not fall into a naive subjectivism.

In every conceivable application of the theory, the question arises not only of how the minimum threshold of capabilities should be determined, but also the considerable practical problem of how the level reached is to be measured and how luxury needs are to be distinguished from legitimate needs.

From a sociological and systems theoretical point of view, in a functionally differentiated society, systems such as social work should ensure that people's chances of inclusion in other social subsystems are preserved. From this point of view, an intervention should take place, depending on the theoretical approach of social work, if there are serious risks of exclusion (i.e. preventive due to a lack of capabilities) or if the exclusion has already occurred (in the sense of a repair due to the currently poor functioning). In practice, however, functioning is predominantly relevant for determining the intervention thresholds. A hasty reaction, for example through affirmative action to compensate for missing capabilities, would be tantamount to paternalistic intervention; Such a demand to compensate for actual or apparent disadvantages is also used more and more frequently as a result of the advancement of identity politics with its deliberately set boundaries between the self and the other, in order to enforce competing claims in distributional conflicts. Their solution is only possible in the medium of negotiation.

Individual evidence

  1. David A. Clark: The Capability Approach: Its Development, Critiques and Recent Advances . Ed .: Global Poverty Research Group. November 2005 (English, gprg.org [PDF; 259 kB ; accessed on November 8, 2016]).
  2. Sudhir Anand, Amartya Sen: Human Development Index: Methodology and Measurement . Ed .: United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report Office (=  Occasional Papers . No. 12 ). New York July 1994 (English, hdr.undp.org [PDF; 2.2 MB ; accessed on November 8, 2016]).
  3. Sudhir Anand, Amartya Sen: Concepts of Human Development and Poverty: A Multidimensional Perspective . In: Development Program of the United Nations (ed.): Poverty and Human Development: Human Development Papers 1997 . New York 1997 (English, clasarchive.berkeley.edu [PDF; 1.1 MB ; accessed on November 8, 2016]).
  4. Amartya Sen: Economy for the people. Paths to Justice and Solidarity in the Market Economy . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3-446-19943-9 . For the concept of freedom see in particular the first two chapters (pages 24–70).
  5. Jan-Hendrik Heinrichs: Basic qualifications for the relationship between ethics and economics . mentis, Paderborn 2006. Page 174.
  6. Amartya Sen: Economy for the people. Paths to Justice and Solidarity in the Market Economy . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3-446-19943-9 . Page 52.
  7. Amartya Sen: Economy for the people. Paths to Justice and Solidarity in the Market Economy . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3-446-19943-9 . Page 63.
  8. Amartya Sen: Economy for the people. Paths to Justice and Solidarity in the Market Economy . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3-446-19943-9 . Page 49.
  9. Amartya Sen: Commodities and Capabilities . North-Holland, Amsterdam 1985 (English). Page 28.
  10. a b Amartya Sen: Equality of What? 1980 (English). Reprinted in: Amartya Sen (Ed.): Choice, Welfare and Measurement . Blackwell, Oxford 1982, pp. 353-369 (English). Here page 366.
  11. Amartya Sen: The Standard of Living . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1987 (English). Page 36.
  12. Amartya Sen: Inequality Re-examined . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1992 (English). Page 40.
  13. Ingrid Robeyns: Sen's capability approach re-Examined . (English, econ.kuleuven.be [PDF; 856 kB ]). www.econ.kuleuven.be ( Memento of May 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Page 5.
  14. Amartya Sen: Capability and Well-Being . In: Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum (ed.): The Quality of Life . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993, pp. 30-53 (English). Here page 33.
  15. Amartya Sen: Commodities and Capabilities . North-Holland, Amsterdam 1985 (English). Page 53.
  16. Amartya Sen: Inequality Re-examined . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1992 (English). Page 110.
  17. Peter Ulrich : Integrative Wirtschaftsethik , Haupt, Bern 2001, 296. Similar to Hannah Arendt with regard to purely political participation.
  18. Amartya Sen: "Capability and well-being", in Nussbaum and Sen (ed.): The Quality of Life, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993, 31-53, here 41
  19. Amartya Sen: The Standard of Living, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1987, 36-37
  20. Amarta Sen: Inequality Re-examined, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1992, xi
  21. Amarta Sen: Inequality Re-Examined, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992, 101
  22. For a discussion of utilitarianism, radical liberalism using the example of Nozick and Rawls' theory of justice see
    Amartya Sen: Economics for people. Paths to Justice and Solidarity in the Market Economy . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3-446-19943-9 . Pages 70-89.
  23. Amartya Sen: Economy for the people. Paths to Justice and Solidarity in the Market Economy . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3-446-19943-9 . Page 73.
  24. Amartya Sen: Economy for the people. Paths to Justice and Solidarity in the Market Economy . Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2000, ISBN 978-3-446-19943-9 . Page 83.
  25. Amartya Sen: Inequality Re-examined, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1992, 8
  26. Amartya Sen: Global Justice. Beyond international equality, in: Horn / Scarano, 466–476, online , no. 18.
  27. Sen: Global Justice No. 20-21 .
  28. Life situations in Germany, pp. 38 and 40 (PDF; 7.6 MB).
  29. Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership , Belknap, Cambridge / London 2006, 70
  30. ^ Martha Nussbaum: Women and Human Development. The Capabilities Approach , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000, 5
  31. Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership, Cambridge / London: Belknap 2006, 159-160
  32. Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership, Cambridge / London: Belknap 2006, 78
  33. Martha Nussbaum, Human Functioning and Social Justice. In Defense of Aristotelian Essentialism, in: Political Theory 20 (1992) 202-246, here 206-208
  34. ^ Martha Nussbaum: Sex & Social Justice, Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1999
  35. Ortrud Leßmann: Conception and recording of poverty. Comparison of the life situation approach with Sens “Capability” approach. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, 165
  36. ^ Martha Nussbaum: Women and Human Development. The capabilities approach . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000, 70
  37. Martha Nussbaum: Human Capabilities, Female Human Beings, in: Martha Nussbaum / Jonathan Glover (eds.): Women, Culture, and Development. A Study of Human Capabilities, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995, 61-104, here 74-75
  38. Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership, Cambridge / London: Belknap 2006, 163
  39. Martha Nussbaum: Justice or the good life . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / Main 1999. Page 233.
  40. Martha Nussbaum: Justice or the good life . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / Main 1999. Pages 49-59.
  41. Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership . Belknap, Cambridge / London 2006 (English). Pages 76-78.
  42. Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership . Belknap, Cambridge / London 2006 (English). Page 71.
  43. Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership . Belknap, Cambridge / London 2006 (English). Page 168.
  44. Martha Nussbaum: Justice or the good life . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / Main 1999. Page 86. Original: Karl Marx: Economic-philosophical manuscripts from 1844, MEW supplementary volume, 1st part, pp. 465-588, Dietz, Berlin 1968, here 544 (X), online
  45. ^ Martha Nussbaum: Women and Human Development. The capabilities approach . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000 (English). Page 75.
  46. Martha Nussbaum: Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership . Belknap, Cambridge / London 2006 (English). Page 284.
  47. Martha Nussbaum: Justice or the good life . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / Main 1999. page 31.
  48. Martha Nussbaum: Justice or the good life . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / Main 1999. page 66.
  49. Martha Nussbaum: Justice or the good life . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / Main 1999. page 64.
  50. ^ Martha Nussbaum: Women and Human Development. The capabilities approach . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000 (English). Page 88.
  51. Amartya Sen: Commodities and Capabilities . 12th reprint edition. Oxford University Press, New Delhi 2008, pp. 6-11 (English, first published 1987).
  52. Wiebke Kuklys: Amartya Sen's Capability Approach. Theoretical Insights and Empirical Applications . Springer, Berlin 2005 (English).
  53. ^ Wulf Gaertner, Yongsheng Xu: Capability Sets as the Basis of a New Measure of Human Development . In: Journal of Human Development . tape 7 , March 2006, p. 311-322 (English).
  54. Jaya Krishnakumar: Going beyond Functionings to Capabilties. An Econometric Model to Explain and Estimate Capabilities . In: Journal of Human Development . tape January 8 , 2007, p. 39-64 (English).
  55. Ingrid Robeyns: An unworkable idea or a promising alternative? Sen's capability approach re-examined, working paper Wolfson College, Cambridge November 28, 2000, 12-14
  56. Sen refers to the elaborations by William M. Gorman (The demand of related Goods, originally 1956, printed in: Review of Economic Studies, 47 (1980), 843-856) and Kelvin J. Lancaster (A new Approach to consumer theory , Journal of Political Economy, 74 (2/1966), 132-157)
  57. Ingrid Robeyns: An unworkable idea or a promising alternative? Sen's capability approach re-examined, working paper Wolfson College, Cambridge November 28, 2000, 14
  58. Amartya Sen: Capability and well-being . In: Martha Nussbaum, Amartya Sen (ed.): The Quality of Life . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993, pp. 31-53 . Here page 49.
  59. Amartya Sen: Capability and well-being . In: Martha Nussbaum, Amartya Sen (ed.): The Quality of Life . Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993, pp. 31-53 . Here page 30.
  60. Ingrid Robeyns: Sen's capability approach re-examined ( Memento from May 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 856 kB), 3
  61. Ingrid Robeyns: 'The capability approach in practice', Journal of Political Philosophy, 14 3/2006, 351-376
  62. all information according to: Ingrid Robeyns: 'The capability approach in practice', Journal of Political Philosophy, 14, 3/2006, 351-376
  63. Amartya Sen: Commodities and Capabilities. North Holland, Amsterdam 1985
  64. Sabina Alkire: Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction, Oxford University Press, Oxford / UK 2002
  65. Stephan Klasen: Measuring poverty and deprivation in South Africa. Review of Income and Wealth, 46, 2000, 33-58; Catarina Ruggeri Laderchi: The many dimensions of deprivation in Peru. Queen Elizabeth House Working Paper Series, 29 (1999); Mozaffar Qizilbash: A note on the measurement of poverty and vulnerability in the South African context. Journal of International Development, 14, 2002, 757-72
  66. Alessandro Balestrino: A note on functionings-poverty in affluent societies, Notes di Politeia, 12, 1996, 97-105
  67. Shelley Phipps: The well-being of young Canadian children in international perspective: a functionings approach, Review of Income and Wealth, 48, 2002, 493-515
  68. Asghar Zaidi and Tania Burchardt: Comparing incomes when needs differ: equivalization for the extra cost of disability in the UK Review of Income and Wealth, 51, 2005, 89–114
  69. Amartya Sen: Commodities and Capabilities. North Holland, Amsterdam 1985
  70. ^ Enrica Chiappero-Martinetti: Unpaid work and household well-being. In: Antonella Picchio (Ed.): Unpaid Work and the Economy: A Gender Analysis of the Standards of Living, Routledge, London 2003; Ingrid Robeyns: Sen's capability approach and gender inequality: selecting relevant capabilities. Feminist Economics, 9, 2003, 61-92.
  71. Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress ( Memento of July 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) of the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress
  72. ^ A Framework to Measure Progress of Societies
  73. For example: Werner Thole (Ed.): Grundriss Soziale Arbeit: An introductory manual. VS-Verlag Wiesbaden 2010, 306
  74. Bernhard Babic, Ortrud Leßmann: Between Desire and Reality? Highlights on the reception of the capability / -ies approach in German-speaking social work . In: Stefan Borrmann, Christian Spatscheck, Sabine Pankofer, Juliane Sagebiel, Brigitta Michel-Schwartze (eds.): The science of social work in discourse. Theory, research and practice of social work . Barbara Budrich Verlag, Opladen 2016, p. 197–216 ( shop.budrich-academic.de [PDF; 352 kB ]).
  75. ^ A b Holger Ziegler: Social work and the good life - capabilities as a socio-educational category . In: Clemens Sedmak, Bernhard Babic, Reinhold Bauer, Posch (eds.): The Capability Approach in Social Science Contexts . VS Verlag, Wiesbaden 2011, p. 131 .
  76. Mark Schrödter: Social work as a justice profession. To ensure opportunities for realization . In: new practice . 2007, p. 3–28 ( socmag.domainfactory-kunde.de [PDF; 314 kB ]). socmag.domainfactory-kunde.de ( Memento from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  77. ^ Horst Bossong: Well-being, state mandate and professional self-interest. A criticism of current disciplinary standards in social work . In: new practice . No. 6 , 2011, p. 591-617 .
  78. (cf.) Ulrich Deinet, Michael Janowicz: Changed framework conditions and new challenges. The necessity of conceptual innovations in open child and youth work , in: Jugendhilfe , 49 (2011) 3, pp. 143-149, 144
  79. ^ Albert Scherr: Youth Court Assistance as a Professional Practice - Requirements and Conflicts. In: ZJJ - magazine for juvenile criminal law and youth welfare , 2011, issue 2, p. 175
  80. Franz Josef Krafeld: The Enablement Approach in Working Against the Exclusion of Young People from Social and Professional Participation , In: Practical Concrete , 2011, Issue 5, p. 30
  81. Hans-Uwe Otto u. a .: Youth Policies in European Countries and their Potential for Social Innovation , 2014.
  82. ^ Rutger Claassen: Capability Paternalism. In: Economics & Philosophy , 30 (2014) 1, pp. 57–73.
  83. ^ Joe Feinberg: Harm to Self. London 1986, p. 8.
  84. Feinberg 1986, p. 12.
  85. Thomas Gutmann: Paternalism and consequentialism. Preprints of the Center for Advanced Study in Bioethics Münster 2011/17
  86. Eric Nelson: From Primary Goods to Capabilities: Distributive Justice and the Problem of Neutrality. In: Political Theory 36 (2008) 1, pp. 93-122; see. on the discussion of perfectionism see Séverine Deneulin: Perfectionism, Paternalism and Liberalism in Sen and Nussbaum's Capability Approach. In: Review of Political Economy 14 (2002), pp. 497-518.
  87. Uwe Bittlingmayer, Holger Ziegler: Public Health and the Good Life: The Capability Approach as the Normative Foundation of Intervention-Related Health Sciences? Discussion Paper SP I 2012–301, Berlin Science Center for Social Research (2012).
  88. Ingrid Robeyns: Equality and Justice. In: S. Deneulin, L. Shahani: An Introduction to the Human Development and Capability Approach: Freedom and Agency. London 2009, pp. 101-120.

literature

  • Bina Agarwal, Jane Humphries, Ingrid Robeyns (Eds.): Amartya Sen's work and ideas. A gender perspective , Routledge, London: 2005.
  • Sabina Alkire: Valuing Freedoms: Sen's Capability Approach and Poverty Reduction , Oxford University Press, Oxford 2002.
  • David Crocker: Sen and Deliberative Democracy , in: Alexander Kaufman (Ed.): Capabilities Equality. Basic Issues and Problems, Routledge, New York 2005, 295-359.
  • Séverine Deneulin and Lila Shahani: An Introduction to the Human Development and Capability Approach , Earthscan, London 2009, completely online
  • Franz F. Eiffe: In the footsteps of Amartya Sen. On the genesis of the capability approach and its contribution to poverty analysis in the EU. Peter Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 2010.
  • Jan-Hendrik Heinrichs: Basic qualifications. On the relationship between ethics and economics , mentis, Paderborn 2006.
  • Alban Knecht: Producing quality of life. A resource theory and power analysis of the welfare state , VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2010.
  • Wiebke Kuklys: Amartya Sen's capability Approach: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Applications , Springer, Berlin 2005.
  • Ortrud Leßmann: Conception and assessment of poverty. Comparison of the life situation approach with Sens “Capability” approach. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007.
  • Martha Nussbaum: Nature, Function and Capability: Aristotle on Political Distribution , in: Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy (supplementary volume), 1988, 145-184.
    • Human Functioning and Social Justice. In Defense of Aristotelian Essentialism , in: Political Theory 20 (1992) 202-246.
    • Human Capabilities, Female Human Beings , in: Martha Nussbaum / Jonathan Glover (Eds.): Women, Culture, and Development. A Study of Human Capabilities, Oxford: Oxford University Press 1995, 61-104.
    • Justice or the good life , Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt 1999.
    • Long-term care and social justice. A challenge to the conventional idea of ​​the social contract , in: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 51 (2003) 179–198.
    • Women and Human Development. The Capabilities Approach , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2000.
    • Frontiers of Justice. Disability, Nationality, Species Membership , Belknap, Cambridge / London 2006.
    • Create skills. New ways to improve human quality of life , Alber, Freiburg / Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-495-48669-6 (Original: Creating Capabilities, Belknap 2011).
  • Julian Molina Romero: The Political Philosophy of Amartya Sen: Social Justice and Global Development based on the Capability Approach , mentis, Münster 2016.
  • Ingrid Robeyns: The capability approach: a theoretical survey , in: Journal of Human Development, 6, 1/2005, 93–114.
  • Klaus Schneider and Hans-Uwe Otto (Eds.): From Employability Towards Capability . Inter-Actions, Luxembourg 2009, ISBN 978-2-9599733-6-9 .
  • Clemens Sedmak, Bernhard Babic, Reinhold Bauer, Christian Posch (Eds.): The Capability Approach in Social Science Contexts. Considerations on the connectivity of a development policy concept. VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-531-17637-6 .
  • Amartya Sen: Utilitarianism and Welfarism , The Journal of Philosophy, LXXVI (1979), 463-489.
    • Equality of What? (1980), in: Amartya Sen (ed.): Choice, Welfare and Measurement, Blackwell, Oxford 1982, 353-369.
    • Commodities and Capabilities , North-Holland, Amsterdam 1985.
    • Well-being, Agency and Freedom: The Dewey Lectures 1984 , in: Journal of Philosophy, 82 (4/1985), 169-221.
    • The Standard of Living , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1987.
    • Inequality Re-examined , Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1992.
    • Capability and Well-Being , in: Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum (eds.): The Quality of Life, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1993, 30-53.
    • (as ed.): Der Lebensstandard , Europäische Verlagsanstalt / Rotbuch, Hamburg 2000.
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    • Human Rights and Capabilities , in: Journal of Human Development, 6, 2005, 151–166.
  • Thomas Sukopp: Human Rights: Claim and Reality. Human dignity, natural law and human nature , Tectum, Marburg 2003, ISBN 3-8288-8537-3 .

Web links