Jenseits des individualistischen Freiheits und Handlungsverständnisses: Strukturen des Zusammenlebens im „Capability Approach“der Entwicklungstheorie

Abstract

Abstract

Beyond individual freedom and agency: Structures of living together in the capability approach to development.

The thrust of Sen’s capability approach to development suggests that development should be judged in terms of the expansion of individual freedoms, such as the freedom to read and write, to live in a clean environment, to live long and healthy lives, and to participate in the life of the community. Although Sen’s capability approach has shifted the evaluation criteria of quality of life assessments from income to the realm of capability, the paper argues that assessing development achievements in terms of individual freedoms contains serious limitations, especially when the capability approach to development becomes a guiding theory for development practice. There is a strong rationale for extending the evaluative space of development to non-individual or collective capabilities, what the paper calls ‘structures of living together’. Through the example of Costa Rica, the paper illustrates why assessing development in regards to public, or non-individual, space, in addition to individual freedoms, is crucial.