Capabilities, Culture and Social Structure

Sen's capability approach has a culturally specific side, with capabilities influenced by social structures and institutions. Although Sen acknowledges this, he expresses his theory in individualistic terms and makes little allowance for culture or social structure. The present paper draws from...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Review of social economy 2005-03, Vol.63 (1), p.101-124
Main Author: Jackson, William A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ability
Analysis
capability approach
Cultural customs
Culture
Economic Systems
Economic Theories
Employment
Human agency
Political economy
Poverty
Quality of life
Sen, Amartya
Social capital
Social interaction
Social policy
Social Structure
Social structures
Sociocultural Factors
Theoretical Problems
Theory
Wellbeing
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Summary:Sen's capability approach has a culturally specific side, with capabilities influenced by social structures and institutions. Although Sen acknowledges this, he expresses his theory in individualistic terms and makes little allowance for culture or social structure. The present paper draws from recent social theory to discuss how the capability approach could be developed to give an explicit treatment of cultural and structural matters. Capabilities depend not only on entitlements but on institutional roles and personal relations: these can be represented openly if capabilities are disaggregated into individual, social and structural capacities. The three layers interact, and a full analysis of capabilities should consider them all. A stratified method implies that raising entitlements will not on its own be enough to enhance capabilities and that cultural and structural changes will be needed.
ISSN:0034-6764
1470-1162
DOI:10.1080/00346760500048048