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Development as Freedom
By: Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen Born in West Bengal, India to Bangladeshi
parents
Schooled in Calcutta and Cambridge – economics & philosophy
Best known for his work on causes for famine & famine prevention
1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Studies
“Mother Theresa of Economics”
Let’s Talk About Poverty
What is poverty?
What is wealth?
Why are poor people poor?
How do we change this?
“How far would wealth go to get them what they want?”
It’s More than Money
“Wealth is evidently not the good we are seeking; for it is merely useful and for the sake of something
else.” –Aristotle
“The usefulness of wealth lies in what we want it to do.”
“Development has to be more concerned with enhancing the lives we lead and the freedoms
we enjoy.”
Development approach: “a process of expanding substantive freedoms that people have”
What is freedom?
Availability of food, health care, sanitation, clean water, gender equality, functional education, employment, social security, political liberty, & basic civil rights
“Greater freedom enhances the ability of people to help themselves and also to influence the world, and these matters are central to the
process of development.”
“Functionings”
Capabilities
Poverty as Capability Deprivation
What affects capability?
Age, gender & social roles, location, epidemiological atmosphere, etc.
Either income deprivation or adversity in converting income into functionings
Relative deprivation vs. Absolute deprivation
Mortality, Inequality, & Relative Deprivation African Americans in the US have lower survival
rates, especially in old age, than much poorer communities of Kerala, India and China.
Development & Culture
Is it better to be “rich & happy” or “impoverished and traditional”?
If the traditional way of life has to be sacrificed to escape grinding poverty or miniscule
longevity, the it is the people directly involved who must have the opportunity to participate in
deciding what should be chosen.”
Conflict: value that people should be allowed to decide freely which traditions to follow vs. established traditions are always followed
Economics of Freedom Development
From the beginning the study of economics was the study of freedom expansion
Economics has shifted more toward utilities, income, & wealth
Promotion of an open market
The market mechanism opens the door for provision of basic education, the presence of
elementary medical facilities, the availability of resources, and much more.
Famines & Other Crises
“Hunger relates not only to food production and agricultural expansion, but also to the functioning of the entire economy…”
Cause of famine: lack of ability to provide one’s own food or lack of availability of food in a
market setting
Hunger limits labor assets and production possibilities
Hunger and fear of hunger can destroy an economy
Production, diversification, and growth
Population, Food, & Freedom
Population control through public policy
Empowering women reduces fertility rate
Why reduce fertility rates?
Economically and emotionally beneficial for young women
“The solution of the population problem calls for more freedom, not less”
The Importance of Democracy
Economic & political incentives
“The process of preventing famines and other crises is significantly helped by the use of
instrumental freedoms…”
“An adequate approach of development cannot really be so centered only on those in power…”
Social Choice & Individual Behavior
We have to anticipate the unintended but predictable consequences – at the end of the day human beings are
self-centered and want to serve themselves primarily
The success of capitalism has to reach beyond self-centeredness
Avoid assumptions: high-minded and low-minded sentimentality
“Central to this approach is the idea of the public as an active participant in change, ather than as a passive and docile recipient of instructions or of dispensed
assistance.”
Individual Freedom as a Social Commitment
A variety of social institutions contribute to the process of development by enhancing and
sustaining individual freedoms
There is no “formula” for development
Freedom has a thousand charms to show,
That slaves, howe’er contented, never know.
- William Cowper