Amartya Sen

"This book took around a decade to write. Three of us, coming from different
locations and contexts, coming from different histories, experiences and lived
lives, coming from different intellectual traditions, shared some initial thoughts. Our sharing showed that we were confronted with a related kind of problem: what do we make of the contemporary, a contemporary marked by a certain incitement to discourse on globalization. What indeed is globalization? What do we mean by ‘global’? What do we make of ‘global capitalism’? What indeed is global capitalism? Where then is the ‘local’?
Given that Marx provided an analysis of nineteenth century European
capitalism, what conceptual handles or windows can Marx offer today? Can he offer anything? Would we at all turn to him for an understanding, interpretation and explanation of contemporary capitalism? Or would he be irrelevant in the Southern situation, given the birth of his theory in a western context? Do concepts travel? Would his concepts be relevant in another culture and another time? How do we conceptualize Marxism in the South, if at all and why at all? Could we at all conceptualize a Marxism that was turned to the South? How would we attend to the scorn of the cultural difference theorist who would say that Marxism’s western moorings impart a certain incommensurability to its invocation in non-Western realities? How would we do away with the near religio-scientific belief of the Universalist who would see the possibility of a ‘core applicability’ of Marxism transcending (non-Western) particularities? Would a rethinking of Marxian questions and concerns in the South mean a radical displacement of much of Marxism; such that Marxism becomes aboriginal —that is, both, ‘other than the original’ as also ‘singed with a certain aboriginality’?
Would it also mean a rethinking of the very description and meaning of the
South that has hitherto hegemonized us? Would it mean a rethinking of the
category of ‘third world’—third world as the representative category for any
description of the South? Taking off from questions as to why and how Marxism could matter in the context of the South, it appeared to us that both western Marxism and third world as is usually deployed in classical and conventional renditions are deeply problematic. Even the bulk of the so-called critique of modernity, whether they be postmodern or postcolonial, falter when faced with the third world. A culturalist critique would tend to forget capital; and an economistic critique is inclined towards putting aside the question of modernity. Resultantly, the specificity as also the burden of the history and the experience of colonial modernity and the evolution of (indigenous) capitalism, all of these in their overdetermined and contradictory imbrications, remain unaccounted for at a more theoretical level. This theoretical problem, by no means peculiar to Marxism, acquires additional urgency in a Marxian space since western Marxism has never really faced up to the category of third world; nor has it come face to face with the experience–language–logic–ethos of the South. Rather, it has often turned away from this encounter; such a turning away is perhaps reflective of an implicit Orientalism. Whether in the North or South, wittingly or unwittingly, irrespective of ideological dispositions, the efforts to rethink Marxism and third world in the Southern space have, with few exceptions, remained forestalled. For us therefore, the more pressing questions are related to how Marxist theory would encounter the specificity of third world. In turn, how would third world encounter Marxism? How do the understandings of Marxism and third world change because of this encounter? This book deals with these questions; it proposes in the process the inauguration of a counter concept ‘world of the third’.

This work thereafter fleshes out a description of world of the third, and of its
encounter with global capitalism, with India as the site of analysis and in the
context of the present phase of globalization. Indeed, globalization has been a recurring sub-theme in the encounter of the ‘rest’ with the West and the current phase represents another passage, with its own unique effects, of this ongoing encounter. By virtue of its unique disposition, Marxian questions tuned to world of the third enunciate a quite different trajectory of explaining and understanding this encounter.

However, one may still ask: why invent a new name world of the third? Does
a change in name solve the problem? Naming has to it a colonizing hue, especially in the South. Nobody has borne the consequences of the cultural imputations involved in naming more than the Southern people. Southern thinkers, to name a few, Franz Fanon, Che Guevara, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Krishnachandra Bhattacharya (author of Swaraj in Ideas) have struggled against the stifling grip of markers coming to their homeland like metonymic meteors from the west. For them, the purpose of social struggles, including the struggle for freedom, was never to just win political independence, but to see to it that the emerging structure–subject is free from the scourge of concepts the West deploys to describe the South (one such concept being ‘third world’). That is also to free oneself from the Orientalist grip, that merged with that of a Capital-centered view to prescribe a fixed path of modernization, progress or development for ancient civilizations. It was to be, for them, a struggle over mindsets-attitudes,
over worldviews; decolonization meant decolonization of minds; swaraj meant ‘swaraj in ideas’. That is why language (whether oral, written, practical or aesthetic) was so important to all these thinkers and resultantly their struggles became a struggle over the structure of symbolic systems as also over subjectivity. These currents of intellectual and social opposition to discourses of colonialism and then modernization including development have subsequently taken various forms and have continued to redefine the intellectual and practical landscape of social resistance and at times social reconstruction in the South. In many ways, these intellectual and social movements talk not simply to their own people, but to the West as well by pointing out that what seemed obvious to the latter was only a particular construction of the ‘rest’ by the West. They argued that the lived
experience of the South could not be reduced to the conceptual frame (explanatory or interpretative) generated in and by the West. The problem is also of reducing (cultural, economic and political) difference to frames of discrimination; it is one of organizing worlds that are different in terms of step–ladder hierarchies, where one is not different from the other, but where one is either superior or inferior to the other (in this case it is all about reducing the difference that world of the third institutes into the global to the hierarchy of first and third worlds). The problem is therefore about being sensitive to a fundamental dissonance that has appeared as a result of the encounter of the West with the ‘rest’. In this context, the deployment of world of the third (as different and as outside) against the given of third world (as the lacking inside of the first world) is crucial.

Our endeavor takes us to a provisional conclusion: the foreclosure of world
of the third is produced through a foregrounding of third world. The hegemonic (here, global capitalism) is then a product of foreclosure (here, world of the third) and foregrounding (here, third world). Critiquing western Marxism and various other strands of ‘post’ thoughts for having missed this crucial mode and node of modernist thinking that motored the conceptualization of and intervention in the so-called third world societies, we offer an interpretation of how this conceptualization of and intervention in the so-called third world societies is a process constitutive of global capitalism.

Further, by defamiliarizing and denaturalizing the given of global capitalism
and third worldism (as also development–globalization), we propose a language of resistance premised on the return of the foreclosed world of the third. Consequently, resistance to the hegemonic cannot but be founded on the return of the foreclosed, on the return not of the third world but of world of the third. A world of the third Marxian approach thus not only provides a distinctly different language/worldview for analyzing the hegemonic, but in the same turn lays down the contours of a possible world of living beyond the hegemonic.

Finally, this work is not just about a dialogue between East and West, between South and North, between the global and the local, between world of the first and world of the third but also between Marx and Freud, between Althusser and Lacan. In the process, in addition, this work brings face to face two near-incommensurable traditions—the rationalist-humanist and the psychoanalytic—and see what productive dialogue or enabling moment can emerge from such an encounter. The dialogue with Amartya Sen (and John Rawls and Martha Nussbaum) is premised on such an encounter. In that sense, this book is also about a dialogue between Sen and Marx-Freud, between need and class, between positional objectivity and overdetermination, between capabilities–functioning–freedom and alienation."

The capability approach is one of the most recent paradigms that responds quite a number of questions which has not been satisfactorily dealt with in various fields of social sciences such as development economics, poverty, social choice theory and social justice. As an approach initially developed by Sen and Nussbaum, it claims that the just society is the one where those who have distinct conceptions of the good are able to achieve what they have reason to value. Despite its promising suggestions, there are still some ambiguities in the approach though, such as how to identify valuable beings and doings, in other words, human functionings. Concerning this, Sen argues that valuable functionings are contextual and should be identified by people themselves. On the other hand, Nussbaum takes up a counter-position claiming that people’s preferences are shaped by the social struc- ture, so that we should identify them from an external point of view. This study, based on some empirical facts, claims that people are able to reflect on their disadvan- taged conditions as well as to develop sophisticated de- liberation. Therefore, against to Nussbaum’s paternalist and modernist claim, it underlines epistemological and practical value in paying attention on diverse roles of multifarious contextual constraints that impinge on people’s valuation thorough more sociological, anthro- pological and ethnographic research rather than igno- ring people’s own valuations.

Çağdaş siyaset teorisinde John Rawls'ın idealize ettiği adalet fikrinin yarattığı eleştirel ortam çok geniş ve takibi zor bir literatürün önünü açmıştır. Adalet kavramını merkezine alan çalışmaların işgal ettiği alan ve bu tartışmalardaki çeşitlilik göz önüne alındığında adalete ilişkin çalışmaların sürekliliğini takip etmenin oldukça zor olduğu söylenebilir. Bu nedenle, tartışmaları daha anlamlı hale getirebilmek için dönemsel bir sınıflandırmanın yanı sıra tematik birtakım eğilimleri de göz önüne almak gerekmektedir. Bu tespit üzere çalışma normatif anlamda adaletin çağdaş dönemde hangi bağlam ve temalar çerçevesinde açıklanabileceği sorusuna odaklanır ve bunu sorunsallaştırır. Adalete ilişkin dönemsel ve bağlamsal farklılıkların üzerine bir sorgulama yaparken benzer ve muarız düşüncelerin izleklerini takip etmeye çalışır. Adalete ilişkin anlatıların arka planında eşitlik-farklılık geriliminin önemli bir rol oynadığını, bu anlamda bir tarafta adaletin eşit muamele fikriyle anlam kazandığı düşüncesinin, diğer tarafta ise eşitlikten ziyade farklılıkların dikkate alındığı bir eğilimin olduğunu iddia eder. "Adalet-Farklılık İlişkisi" olarak adlandırdığımız bu durum, adalete ilişkin süregelen tartışmaların birey, grup, yetenek, işlev, topluluk, cinsiyet, çevre, kültür, kimlik vb. farklılıklar veya çeşitliliklerin vurgulandığı bir temada ele alındığı iddiasını taşır. Bu anlamda çalışma "hakkaniyet olarak adalet, yetkilenme teorisi, kapasite yaklaşımı, adalete dair feminist ilgiler, toplulukçu eğilim, temsil ve tanınmaya" dayanan geniş bir düzlemde adaletin farklılık bağlamında anlam kazanacağını iddia eder. İlgili çalışma ve yaklaşımlardan hareketle adalet tartışmalarına dair tasnif ve çeşitlilik problemini aşmayı sağlayacak bir bakış açısının imkanları üzerine bir sorgulama yaparak, bu denli bir sorgulamanın farklılık ekseninde düşünülmesinin gerekliliğine dikkat çeker.


The critical environment created by the justice idea in contemporary political theory idealized by John Rawls has paved the way for a very wide and of course challenging literature. Considering the area occupied by studies focusing on the concept of justice and the diversity of these debates, it can be claimed that following the continuity of the studies on justice is very difficult. Therefore, in order to make discussions more meaningful it is necessary to take into consideration not only a periodical classification but also thematic tendencies. Based on this, the current study focuses on the question of around what contexts and themes the justice in normative sense might be defined in the contemporary era and problematizes it. While questioning periodical and contextual differences related to justice, the study tries to follow the paths of similar and opponent thoughts. It claims that the equality-difference tension plays an important role in the background of the accounts of the justice, and in this regard, it claims that there is the idea of the justice becoming meaningful by the principle of equal treatment on the one hand and there is the tendency to consider differences apart from equality on the other hand. This situation which we call the "Justice-Difference Relationship" contains the claim that the ongoing debates on the subject of justice is considered within a theme where differences or diversities such as individual, group, ability, function, community, gender, environment, culture, and identity. In this regard, the study claims that justice would become meaningful in the context of differences on a broad level based on "justice as fairness, entitlement theory, capability approach, feminist interests on justice, communitarian tendency, representation and recognition". It inquires on the possibilities of a viewpoint that will overcome the problem of classification and diversity in relation to debates on justice with reference to the relevant works and approaches and draws attention to the necessity of considering such an inquiry on the axis of difference.

Il paper inquadra il pensiero di Amartya Sen all'interno della millenaria evoluzione del concetto di povertà dalle economie palatine al liberalismo ottocentesco. L'idea dell'economista indiano ne emerge dotata di straordinaria capacità di sintesi tra l'approccio statalista della giustizia economica e l'opposto individualismo efficentista.

Meneer de Rector Magnificus, beste collega's en studenten, familie en vrienden, Mensen hebben, overal ter wereld en door de geschiedenis heen, risico's genomen en offers gebracht om sociale onrechtvaardigheden aan te kaak te stellen en te bestrijden. Aan het begin van de 20 e eeuw zijn de arbeidsomstandigheden van fabrieksarbeiders in Europa pas verbeterd nadat sociaal activisten aangekaart hadden hoe onrechtvaardig en onmenselijk die arbeidsomstandigheden waren. Ook het vrouwenkiesrecht is niet zomaar vanzelf uit de lucht komen vallen; daartoe hebben feministen heel wat argumenten op tafel moeten leggen, en de machthebbers moeten overtuigen van hun gelijk. De geschiedenis is doorspekt van strijd die mensen gevoerd hebben om onrechtvaardigheden ongedaan te maken. Ook op institutioneel vlak is rechtvaardigheid een belangrijke waarde. De Nederlandse rechtstaat beoogt een rechtvaardige maatschappij te zijn. Alle politieke partijen beweren rechtvaardigheid belangrijk te vinden, ook al geven zij wel heel verschillende invullingen aan dit begrip. Een belangrijk criterium voor overheidsbeleid is daarom dat het rechtvaardig is, ook al moet dit soms afgewogen worden tegen andere waarden. Maar ondanks dit direct maatschappelijke belang van sociale rechtvaardigheid, heeft binnen de analytische politieke filosofie de rechtvaardigheidsliteratuur zich de laatste 40 jaar vooral gericht op meer abstracte analyses van hoe de perfect rechtvaardige samenleving er uit zou moeten zien. Deze filosofie is niet altijd even toepasbaar geweest op concrete sociale onrechtvaardigheden, vooral niet voor minder zichtbare vormen daarvan.

RESUMO: O trabalho tem como temática a promoção do desenvolvimento humano em face do Direito em sua matriz transnacional/global. A problemática central do presente artigo é: A utilização de indicadores transnacionais/globais no processo legislativo é um impeditivo para a promoção do desenvolvimento segundo a teoria Amartya Sen? A hipótese de pesquisa é de que a falta de uma estrutura democrática sólida e, consequentemente, de transparência no debate público acerca dos indicares utilizados no processo legislativo são impeditivos para a promoção de um desenvolvimento conforme o pensamento de Sen. Utilizando o método hipotético-dedutivo, baseado em pesquisas e análises bibliográficas, o trabalho objetiva demonstrar como a manutenção de um ambiente democrático funcional, pautado pelo debate público transparente, é indispensável quando da utilização de indicadores transnacionais/globais no processo de criação de leis, visando a promoção do desenvolvimento segundo a teoria de Amartya Sen. ABSTRACT: The work has as main theme the promotion of human development in the face of law in its transnational / global matrix. The central problem of this article is: Is the use of transnational / global indicators in the legislative process an impediment to the promotion of development according to Amartya Sen theory? The research hypothesis is that the lack of a solid democratic structure and, consequently, transparency in the public debate about the indications used in the legislative process are impeding the promotion of a development according to Sen's thinking. Using the hypothetical-deductive method Based on bibliographic research and analysis, the paper aims to demonstrate how the maintenance of a functional democratic environment, guided by transparent public debate, is indispensable when the use of transnational / global indicators in the process of creating laws, aiming at promoting development according to Amartya Sen's theory. A fase seguinte aos eventos de 1945 foi marcada por fortes mudanças sociais e culturais no ocidente. O desenvolvimento da ideia dos Direitos Humanos, bem como a necessidade de impedir que os horrores vividos durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial impulsionaram o debate político e acadêmico acerca da categoria "desenvolvimento". Desde então, a teoria sobre o desenvolvimento afastou-se da predominância do econômico e transferiu-se para outro foco, o desenvolvimento humano, ou seja, aquelas práticas que se pautam pela constante melhoria do bem-estar dos indivíduos. Um dos autores de maior

For the advocates of basic income as instrument to guarantee real freedom, the capabilities approach constitutes an important challenge. It seems that a universal and in-cache policy, such as basic income, would not play any role in a theory so aware of the diversity of people and so sceptic of the idea that real freedom would be achieved only thanks to higher income. But this assumption, which appears correct at first sight, is not confirmed after a careful evaluation of Sen’s proposal.
In the article, the Author shows how basic income would be a good instrument to fulfil what Sen calls protective security. Afterward, the article handles the question regarding how basic income could take into account some diversity in people’s capabilities thanks to the concept of undominated diversity.

A number of thinkers have pointed to radical hope as both an appropriate affective state to motivate action in a time of radical change and perhaps the only appropriate reaction to the uncertainties expected in the Anthropocene. As Jonathan Lear characterizes it, radical hope is a hope that we might find a meaningful existence without the context and substantial constraints that previously provided one's life with meaning. If we are to appeal to radical hope as an appropriate form of motivation in the Anthropocene, however, we need an appropriate object for that hope. We need some sense of what we are hoping for. In this paper I argue that the most appropriate objects for radical hope are ideals generated from the substantial freedoms required for any recognizably human good life. These substantial freedoms amount to Senian capabilities. While, owing to its inherent uncertainties, we cannot conceptualize with suitable specificity what a good life would be in the Anthropocene, we can recognize that it will be shaped by the substantial freedoms required for most any good life, that is, by capabilities. As capabilities express ideals about the good life, these ideals provide the appropriate object for radical hope. Hoping for ideals of the good life should provide an object for our motivation in a time when the specifics of that good life are unclear. Just as radical hope seems an appropriate response to our changing climate, the ideals underpinning capabilities provide a grounding for that hope suitable for the Anthropocene.

El presente trabajo constituye una aproximacion a las teorias acerca del desarrollo economico y el subdesarrollo. Hemos, no obstante, analizado algunas de las principales teorias acerca del Desarrollo, haciendo especial hincapie en el enfoque marxista sobre el mismo, y si bien es cierto que no existe una teoria del desarrollo en Marx, el analisis concienzudo de su doctrina economica nos proporciona los elementos suficientes para aseverar que en ultima instancia este topico no paso desapercibido ante los ojos de Marx en su analisis del modo de produccion capitalista y por ende nuestro aporte se basa en demostrar que la lectura de su teoria economica nos conduce a la interpretacion de un Enfoque Marxista sobre el Desarrollo.

This survey article (in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) offers an introduction to the field of social choice theory. It covers: (i) the history of social choice theory; (ii) three formal arguments for majority rule (procedural, epistemic, and utilitarian); (iii) preference aggregation; (iv) welfare aggregation; (v) judgment aggregation; and (vi) other topics.
Available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-choice/

Il Decimo Rapporto annuale di "Sos Impresa", pubblicato il 22 ottobre 2007 in occasione dell'assemblea nazionale dell'associazione antiracket dall'eloquente sottotitolo "le mani della criminalità sulle imprese", pone per l'ennesima volta l'accento su un'emergenza che pesa come un macigno sull'economia e sulle opportunità di sviluppo civile di interi settori della società italiana.

Ancient history is a very vibrant academic topic whose recent evolution we may tentatively resume as follows: in the aftermath ofWWII, economie and social issues were at the centre of the agenda throughout aIl historical studies. The type of studies popularized by the Ecole des Annales spread widely. It has been noticed that, in France notoriously, this methodological tum first concemed Middle Ages and Modem Times which offers a good conjunction between 'le trop et le pas assez'; indeed, the Middle Ages provided enough to quantify but fortunately not to the point of being buried by numbers and prevented from developing models. Books entitled 'Economy and society' flourished everywhere. They dominated research during the 1970s and most of the 1980s.

Amartya Sen's capability approach is, on the one hand, in line with universalism such as exhibited in Martha Nussbaum's capabilities approach and Len Doyal and Ian Gough's human need theory. On the other hand, his approach puts priority on people's "self-evaluation" of capabilities and needs. The latter emphasis makes his approach distinctly sensitive to people's differences such as gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, etc.. One could ask, however, how successfully the former commitment to universalism relates to this latter feature that places importance on taking difference seriously. This question is especially relevant with respect to global justice and gender, for example. To offer a potential answers to this question is main goal of this paper. Constructive Universalism: Sen and Sensitivity to Difference

196 G. Haber, Nierówności społeczne jako problem globalny w XXI wieku, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem państw peryferyjnych w światowym systemie społeczno-ekonomicznym, w: M.W. Solarz (red.), Polska geografia polityczna wobec problemów i wyzwań współczesnej Polski i świata. Wybrane problemy, Toruń 2012. ISBN: 978-83-7780-525-1 W XXI wieku nierówności społeczne i mająca je zniwelować polityka instytucji publicznych w różnych państwach świata stają się coraz częściej przedmiotem ożywionych dyskusji i to nie tylko na polu akademickim. Jednakże jeszcze do niedawna wydawało się, iż w wewnątrzpaństwowym dyskursie politycznym nierówności społeczne przestają być tematem ważnym. Przypuszczenie to wynikało z przekonania, że rozwój społeczny i postęp cywilizacyjny doprowadzą w najbliższej przyszłości do ograniczenia tego problemu. Przyjęty przez społeczność międzynarodową tzw. kompromis neoliberalny 1 , który w kręgu europejskiej lewicy 1 Genezę powstania nowej, ogólnoświatowej doktryny ładu społecznego bardzo dobrze analizuje David Harvey, który zwraca uwagę, że "przeobrażenia o tak wielkim zasięgu i głębi nie zachodzą przypadkowo (...) Neoliberalizm jest przede wszystkim teorią praktyk polityczno-ekonomicznych, która głosi, że ludzkiemu dobrobytowi najlepiej służyć będzie uwolnienie przedsiębiorczości w ramach instytucjonalnych, których cechy charakterystyczne to: mocne prawa własności prywatnej, wolne rynki i wolny handel. (...) Niemal wszystkie państwa, od tych nowo powołanych do życia po rozpadzie Związku Radzieckiego, po staroświeckie demokracje i państwa opiekuńcze takie jak Nowa Zelandia i Szwecja, uległy jakiejś wersji teorii neoliberalnej i przynajmniej częściowo dostosowały do niej swą politykę i praktykę". Zob. 8-9. D. Harvey, Neoliberalizm. Historia katastrofy, Instytut Wydawniczy Książka i Prasa, Warszawa 2008, s. 8-9. Natomiast Anthony Payne oraz Nicola Phillips zauważają, iż w tym wypadku o kompromisie nie można mówić. Fakt, iż został zaakceptowany w dyskursie publicznym, zdaniem autorów świadczy o sile nośnej idei szkoły chicagowskiej, natomiast w odniesieniu do teorii rozwoju zasadne jest uważanie neoliberalizmu jako teorii kontrrewolucyjnej. Źródło: A. Payne, N. Phillips, Rozwój, Wydawnictwo Sic!, Warszawa 2011, s. 109-115.

El libro Primero la gente. Una mirada desde la ética del desarrollo a los principales problemas del mundo globalizado (2007), compila un variado conjunto de artículos de dos de los más influyentes intelectuales de la visión ética del desarrollo: el célebre economista y filósofo indio, Amartya Sen y el no menos reputado economista argentino y sociólogo Bernardo Kliksberg. Para Amartya Sen la globalización tiende a ser malinterpretada como un proceso occidental, versión la cual se ve fortalecida con el relato de Huntington sobre "el choque de civilizaciones". Ésta adolece, en principio, de dos errores de tergiversación. El primero sería el desconocer la larga historia de procesos globalizadores previos en los que los grandes adelantos tecnológicos y las grandes ideas no viajaron desde Occidente a Oriente sino en dirección opuesta. Incluso destaca el caso del primero libro impreso que consistió en una traducción desde el sánscrito al chino realizada por un turco. Básicamente Occidente estuvo ausente de esta primera proeza. El segundo error estaría en prestar excesiva-sino única-atención a un aspecto identitario por sobre el amplio conjunto de aspectos que identifican al ser humano (por no mencionar, además, las adhesiones temporales o interrumpidas, pero eso lo agrego yo). Esta visión sesgada y estereotipada de las culturas, identifica a determinados pueblos con tendencias violentas y a otros con el pacifismo. Ve la ética del trabajo esforzado en unos y la pereza en otros, visión la cual se encontró presente en el juicio del ministro ex primer ministro británico, Tony Blair, sobre los asuntos internacionales en medio oriente como en tantas otras figuras políticas e intelectuales lo han hecho en su momento. Superar esta perspectiva unidireccional y unidimensional de la globalización nos habilita para recién comenzar a juzgar sus ventajas y desventajas como fenómeno geo-económico y geo-político en curso. Tanto Sen como Kliksberg prestan suma atención a las externalidades negativas de la globalización y específicamente su impacto en la inequidad y la desigualdad mundial, como también los persistente problemas de accesos a bienes y servicios básicos. A principios del 2000 (periodo en el cual se contextualizan las cifras del texto, muchas de las cuales no ha corregido mayormente su tendencia) el mundo llegaba a una situación global en que las 3 personas más ricas del planeta concentraban mayor riqueza en activos que los 48 países más pobres; o bien, las 200 empresas más importantes detentaban el doble de activos que el 80% de la población mundial. Vemos que estos datos, lejos de ser una anomalía, constituyen una lamentable tendencia de acuerdo al análisis de Piketty Además, si esto no conmueve a quienes justifican la desigualdad como un mal necesario del crecimiento económico, quizás sí lo hagan los 18 millones de muertes anuales por causas asociadas a la pobreza (un tercio de las muertes anuales), de las cuales un 60% son niños menores de 5 años de edad. Para Sen, las manifestaciones anti-globalización representan una de las expresiones más ampliamente difundidas de la globalización. Pero a pesar de que una amplia proporción de la población mundial se encuentra aún excluida del progreso económico, la globalización sí merece ser defendida aunque desde ya debe ser objeto de serios ajustes. El objetivo ha de ser priorizar una distribución más justa de los beneficios con independencia de si, en el agregado (o el promedio), la situación actual es mejor que la anterior. Como expresa el premio Nobel en economía de forma magistral parafraseando a otro laureado en la misma disciplina; el afamado John Nash:

In this paper, I wanted to analyze Martha C. Nussbaum's capabilities approach by first of all contextualizing her project via her own philosophical framework. Next to that, I have added some of my own philosophical, feminist philosophical and feminist postcolonial critiques with regards to the so-called feminist international, political liberal, and universalist framework of the capabilities approach. By 'moving through and beyond' Nussbaum's capabilities approach, I wanted to open up a theoretical space for Nancy Fraser's political theory of justice, as she has developed it in Scales of Justice.

L'economista d'alto livello deve avere una rara combinazio ne di doti. Deve attingere un livello elevato in più direzioni diver se, combinare capacità che non si trovano spesso assieme. Deve essere, in certo modo, matematico, storico, statista, filosofo; ma neggiare i simboli ed esprimersi in parole; vedere il particolare al la luce del generale e toccare l'astratto e il concreto con lo stesso colpo d'ala del pensiero. Deve studiare il presente alla luce del passato ai fini del futuro. Non c'è parte della natura e delle istitu zioni umane che possa sfuggire al suo sguardo. Deve essere, con temporaneamente, risoluto e disinteressato; distaccato e incorrut tibile come un artista, eppure a volte vicino alla terra come l'uo mo politico» l.

Desde la aparición de las sociedades humanas hace, aproximadamente, diez mil años en Mesopotamia, la actividad comercial se desarrolló casi paralelamente al del crecimiento de la cultura. Las rutas comerciales permitieron que los Estados intercambiaran materiales, alimentos y bienes entre ellos, aun cuando no se produjeran en sus propias tierras. Con el tiempo, las guerras hicieron que unos Estados tuvieran más poder que otros. Con la aparición de la economía como ciencia, surge la preocupación por determinar la prosperidad de los pueblos.

Neste artigo, pretendo demonstrar que, de fato, Mill está alinhado
com Adam Smith ao descrever a ideia do “mercado de ideias” e que a
descrição de um mecanismo de uma “mão invisível” regulamentando as
ideias mais ou menos adequadas “livremente” é coerente com a
argumentação apresentada por Mill, mas, ao contrário do que pode
parecer a um leitor ocasional, a defesa de Mill não é incondicionada justamente por ser alinhada com um a leitura de Adam Smith sobre as
condições de funcionamento de um mercado.
Para tanto, irei alinhar minha leitura de Adam Smith com o resgate
que Amartya Sen promove da ideia de justiça e de empatia no trabalho de
Smith, orientando a interpretação da ideia de livre mercado e de liberdade
de expressão a partir dos marcadores morais que Smith impõe para o
funcionamento de uma sociedade liberal. Após isso, avaliarei a
possibilidade de aplicar marcadores morais na ideia de liberdade de
expressão em John Stuart-Mill, defendendo que é possível estabelecer um
limite objetivo e de caráter político-moral para a liberdade de expressão
em Stuart-Mill: não somos livres para falar coisas que sabemos que são
falsas.

Mengapa pemikiran Amartya Sen -peraih Nobel Ekonomi 1998 -khususnya gagasannya mengenai keadilan menjadi menarik untuk didiskusikan? Ide mendiskusikannya muncul setelah terbitnya buku Amartya Sen paling mutakhir, yakni The Idea of Justice pada 2009. Buku ini menarik perhatian banyak kalangan karena dalam buku ini Sen dianggap sedang membangun argumen filosofisnya, tertuma mengenai gagasan keadilan, demokrasi dan kebebasan. Berbeda dengan buku-buku Sen pada umumnya yang sarat dengan data-data statistik, tabel-tabel dan kurva-kurva dalam menyoroti persoalan ekonomi, kemiskinan dan kelaparan, dalam buku ini Sen lebih mengutarakan argumen-argumen filosofisnya mengenai upayanya menelusuri gagasan tentang keadilan dan upaya memerangi ketidakadilan dalam konteks praktik demokrasi dan keniscayaan globalisasi.

In unserem Beitrag möchten wir uns mit einigen Problemen auseinandersetzen, welche mit dem Thema der kulturellen Identität der Individuen verbunden sind. Eine Interpretation der kulturellen Identität, welche die Identität als etwas Absolutes, Statisches, Eindimensionales, Starres erachtet, wird analysiert werden. Wir werden zeigen, dass diese Auffassung der kulturellen Identität das Ziel verfolgt, Menschen und Gruppen als isolierte Systeme zu erzeugen. Für die Kritik jeder eindimensionalen Interpretation der kulturellen Identität werden wir uns auf die Studie von Amartya Sen "Die Identitätsfalle. Warum es keinen Krieg der Kulturen gibt" (Originalausgabe "Identity and Violence. The Illusion of Destiny") stützen.

The task of studying the impact of social class on physical and mental health involves, among other things, the use of a conceptual toolbox that defines what social class is, establishes how to measure it, and sets criteria that help distinguish it from closely related concepts. One field that has recently witnessed a wealth of theoretical and conceptual research on social class is psychology, but geographers' and sociologists' attitude of diffidence toward this " positivistic " discipline has prevented them from taking advantage of this body of scholarship. This paper aims to highlight some of the most important developments in the psychological study of social class and social mobility that speak to the long-standing concerns of health geographers and sociologists with how social position, perceptions, social comparisons, and class-based identities impact health and well-being.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.037

Resumen: La racionalidad económica se ha desarrollado tradicionalmente sobre los presupuestos antropológicos de un ser humano egoísta y maximizador de utilidades cuya única pretensión para establecer relaciones con los demás agentes es optimizar su nivel de bienestar personal. El presente artículo proyecta defender la tesis de que no sólo es posible discernir otro enfoque de racionalidad económica, sino también necesario si en mente está generar y desarrollar una economía más rica y fructífera en todos los aspectos.Para alcanzar tal propósito se analizará la propuesta de transformación ética de al racionalidad económica desarrollada por Amartya Sen y el importante papel que puede jugar la ética empresarial en el todo este proceso.

Drawing on Paul Streeten’s ‘Basic Needs’ and Amartya Sen’s ‘Development as Freedom’, as a critical assessment of the leading theoretical conceptualisations of development, this essay makes an attempt to compare ‘meanings’ of development. That is, to illustrate how development is conceptualised, and to show the significance of such conceptualisations in visualising development. Focus is narrowed on the definition(s) of the concept of development and interpretation(s) of its meaning and their position to weigh development in practice. Central to this comparison and assessment is, whether development is a consequence or a process, whether there is one notion of development or there are notions of development, whether development is specific to a certain area or it is a global occurrence, and finally whether development is a journey between two identified stages, from underdeveloped to developed, or it is rather a journey with no end for both developing and developed countries to a more and a lesser degree.

En el centro del debate sobre liderazgo ético y transparencia se encuentra un asunto medular, la riqueza de las naciones no se basa más en sus materias primas, capacidad de producción instalada, espíritu y visión empresarial, sino el recurso más abusado en la historia económica, el capital humano.
El coach en liderazgo, Juan Carlos Flores Zúñiga, explica en el nuevo BLOG LiderInnova como la pretensión de ser ético es vana si no se cuenta con una estructura de transparencia visible.

Coming from the notions of AmartyaSen and Robert Chambers, on poverty as "capability deprivation" and "absence of well-being", this study seeks to portray a "political face" of the poor's condition. Beyond the usual depiction of the poor as living below the "poverty line" what kind of lives do they have in the much larger landscape of the structure of power relations? How do they position themselves vis-a-vis the powerful politicians and how do they understand themselves as actors of political processes such as elections? The study believes that beyond the totalizing views of poverty in mainstream social science scholarship, the poor's portrayal and understanding of their own condition must be considered, not to replace the existing explanations and views but in order to interrogate and eventually enrich some of its assumptions. A particular village, i.e. Pasil is used as a case in order to provide an empirical illustration of the study. The said village is located in Cebu City, a bigger proportion of which is a slum area. Methodologically, the study uses qualitative data collection techniques

Corso di Laurea in Lingue e comunicazione interculturale in area euro-mediterranea TESI DI LAUREA MAGISTRALE in ETICA INTERCULTURALE L'identità europea. Chi siamo, da dove veniamo, dove ci dirigiamo? Relatrice Prof.ssa Bonito Oliva Rossella Candidato Ferrante Simone MLC/00354 Correlatore Dott. Salottolo Delio Anno accademico 2018/2019

Amartya Sen, Identità e violenza tr. it., Roma-Bari, Laterza, 2006 Grazie al nuovo saggio di Sen assistiamo ad una magistrale lezione compositiva, in cui i vari livelli semantici del testo sono ricondotti al problema di cui il libro pone una disamina: l'identità. Concetto tanto sfuggente da definire quanto definitorio di ciò che sfugge, l'identità si delinea come confine tra elementi differenti: il metodo comparativo permette l'identificazione del limite, l'area di demarcazione ed il suo trasformarsi. Così il problema dell'identità è delimitato da Sen in relazione a molte teorie che fungono da controcanto del saggio seniano. Questo metodo è l'inevitabile approdo, qualora si voglia comprendere il senso dell'identità, poiché nel tentativo di coglierne il significato ci si imbatte in molti significanti che necessitano di altrettante analisi; religione, cultura, globalizzazione, civiltà. Dopo aver passato in rassegna la posizione di Samuel Hungtinton, Sen rileva che la visione dello scontro di civiltà "si combina tradizionalmente con una percezione molto nebulosa della storia, che trascura innanzitutto la portata delle diversità interne nell'ambito di queste civiltà". Sen si spinge oltre la mera rilevazione di errori metodologici, e constata pure le distorsioni comunicative che questi errori possono creare: "i teorici dello scontro di civiltà spesso forniscono sofisticate pezze d'appoggio alle rozze e sguaiate convinzioni popolari. Teorie colte possono contribuire a rafforzare rudimentali intolleranze." La trasmissione del sapere e del suo modello di circolazione è fondamentale per comprendere come l'identità si rafforzi e si costruisca: gli stessi paradigmi teorici propri della filosofia occidentale, risultano molto difficili da categorizzare come prodotti dell'occidente, quando, ad esempio, si voglia considerare che Aristotele fu tradotto da Avicenna, e tramite la conservazione dei pensatori arabi i testi aristotelici non andarono perduti. Continuando nella comparazione delle fonti, Sen rileva come i fondamenti della civiltà occidentale sono rintracciati da Thomas Carlyle nei tre elementi "la polvere da sparo, la stampa e la religione protestante": Francis Bacon nel 1620 affermava che i tre elementi fossero la polvere da sparo, la stampa e la bussola. La conclusione di Sen è un vero coupe de theatre: se nel tentativo di comprendere le radici dell' "occidente", "la lista degli ingredienti della civiltà che prendiamo come riferimento è quella stilata da Bacon allora la Cina porta a casa l'intera posta". Seguendo il maestro nel suo metodo compositivo a tratti dolorosamente beffardo, è da rilevare come il luogo comune della tradizionale infinita pazienza indiana sia in pieno confermato dal saggio Identità e violenza: Sen lentamente, caparbiamente, mina alla radice teorie e senso comune che vogliono conferire un ruolo culturale e sociale all'identità che non è legittimo, ma viene imposto con la violenza. "Violenza" è l'altro polo del sintagma: in apparenza più semplice da definire rispetto a "identità", si rivela invece di inconsistente e di incerto significato. La violenza come agire subito od inflitto è l'elemento che permea tutte le pagine del libro, a cui il riferimento esplicito viene fatto solo nel primo capitolo, intitolato "La violenza dell'illusione", dove Sen in realtà rimanda al problema del conflitto in relazione all'identità religiosa, nazionale o "di civiltà". Il significato della parola tanto inflazionata, quanto sconosciuta, è invece illustrato nelle ultime righe del libro: "una delle strade per opporsi alla miniaturizzazione degli esseri umani, che è il tema centrale di questo libro, potrebbe essere aprirsi alla possibilità di un mondo capace di superare la memoria del suo tormento passato e vincere le insicurezze del suo difficile presente". Da questa creazione linguistica si dovrebbe ricominciare a pensare: la "miniaturizzazione degli esseri umani", la riduzione e la compressione violenta entro i limiti di dispositivi che di umano hanno davvero troppo poco, non può cancellare l'elemento umano per eccellenza e che abbonda in ogni civiltà, il dolore. Ripensare il dolore alla luce della memoria storica e comprendere le affinità identitarie, ciò

In questo saggio confronterò alcuni aspetti della teoria della giustizia come equità di John Rawls con la teoria delle capacità di Amartya K. Sen. In particolare, tenterò di presentare un'analisi del concetto di "bene principale" rawlsiano comparandolo con quello seniano di "capacità" al fine di dimostrare che si tratta di una distinzione tradizionalmente delineata in termini eccessivi. La tesi centrale di questo lavoro, infatti, è che beni principali e capacità non siano concetti alternativi, ma diverse declinazioni di uno stesso argomento. I beni principali, infatti, possono essere correttamente intesi come elementi che concorrono alla realizzazione di capacità. Al fine di dimostrare ciò, proporrò una parziale ridefinizione dei due concetti e presenterò una lettura dei beni principali come "capacitazioni". Infine, affronterò il problema dell'indice dei beni principali e delle capacità fondamentali, per sostenere che la molteplicità delle istanze di giustizia è meglio garantita da una sua redazione in termini non specifici.

Conceptul de „dreptate socială” este, fără îndoială, unul dintre conceptele cheie ale filosofiei politice. În orice caz, el este unul dintre cele mai utilizate concepte de către filosofii politici recenţi. Bănuiala mea este că foarte puţine concepte – precum, spre exemplu, cel de „democraţie” – pot rivaliza din acest
punct de vedere conceptul de „dreptate socială”. Pe ce îmi bazez această bănuială? Pe faptul că, aşa cum se poate constata examinând cărţile sau revistele din acest domeniu, dreptatea socială este unul dintre cele mai abordate şi mai dezbătute subiecte din filosofia politică a ultimilor cincizeci de ani.
        Această situaţie nu este rezultatul întâmplării. Problema identificării principiilor organizării drepte a unei societăţi este considerată – şi, fără îndoială, este – una dintre cele mai importante probleme ale filosofiei politice. Pentru mulţi filosofi politici, ea este chiar cea mai importantă problemă a filosofiei politice, la fel cum dreptatea este cea dintâi virtute a unei „societăţi bune”. John Rawls, spre exemplu, filosoful care a avut cea mai mare contribuţie la concentrarea filosofiei politice recente pe problema dreptăţii sociale (din păcate, de multe ori în detrimentul celorlalte probleme importante ale acesteia), şi-a dezvoltat celebra sa teorie a dreptăţii sociale (şi) ca urmare a convingerii că dreptatea „este prima virtute a instituţiilor sociale, la fel cum este adevărul pentru sistemele de gândire. Oricât de elegantă sau economică ar fi, o teorie trebuie respinsă sau revizuită dacă nu este adevărată; la fel, indiferent de cât de eficiente sau bine organizate ar fi, instituţiile trebuie reformate sau abolite dacă sunt nedrepte. (…) Singurul lucru care ne permite să acceptăm o teorie eronată este lipsa uneia mai bune; în mod analog, o nedreptate este tolerabilă numai atunci când este necesară pentru a evita o nedreptate şi mai mare. Fiind primele virtuţi ale activităţilor umane, adevărul şi dreptatea sunt de necompromis”.
      Conceptul de „dreptate socială” este, însă, şi unul dintre cele mai controversate concepte ale filosofiei politice. Foarte puţine aspecte legate de acest concept nu sunt înconjurate de controverse şi dezbateri argumentative. Cred că nu greşesc dacă afirm că există doar trei astfel de aspecte. Primul este acela că
dreptatea, fie ca virtute individuală, fie ca virtute a unei societăţi, constă, în esenţă, în a da fiecăruia ceea ce i se cuvine (sau ceea ce i se datorează, ceea ce este îndreptăţit să primească). Al doilea este acela că, spre deosebire de conceptul de „dreptate distributivă”, introdus în vocabularul filosofic încă de Aristotel,
conceptul de „dreptate socială” este unul mult mai recent, utilizat pentru prima dată abia în prima jumătate a secolului XIX. În sfârşit, al treilea este acela că dreptatea socială nu trebuie confundată cu dreptatea legală sau retributivă (dreptatea în pedepsirea celor vinovaţi de infracţiuni).
      Unii autori ar introduce pe lista aspectelor necontroversate legate de conceptul de „dreptate socială” şi un al patrulea aspect. Mă refer la ideea că dreptatea socială se distinge în mod clar de caritate. Este adevărat, cei mai mulţi filosofi operează o astfel de distincţie. De obicei, caritatea este prezentată ca o
virtute morală privată şi strict voluntară faţă de ceilalţi membri ai societăţii, în vreme ce dreptatea este prezentată ca o virtute sau o datorie morală a cărei respectare poate fi impusă (enforced) în mod legitim de către stat. Există însă şi filosofi care au contestat, mai mult sau mai puţin explicit, legitimitatea şi semnificaţia morală a acestei distincţii. Doi dintre aceşti filosofi sunt Allen Buchanan şi Jeremy Waldron. Ambii au încercat să arate că, de fapt, şi respectarea exigenţelor carităţii poate fi uneori impusă în mod legitim din punct de vedere moral de către stat. Buchanan a făcut chiar mai mult: a încercat să demonstreze caracterul problematic al tuturor modalităţilor prin care filosofii politici au încercat să traseze o distincţie netă între dreptatea socială şi caritate.
        Unele dintre cele mai importante controverse declanşate de conceptul de „dreptate socială” sunt cele legate de definirea, de specificarea şi de legitimitatea acestui concept. Prima este, în esenţă, o controversă în privinţa răspunsului la următoarea întrebare: care este cadrul conceptual care surprinde cel mai
bine trăsătura fundamentală a dreptăţii şi nedreptăţii sociale? A doua este o controversă în privinţa exigenţelor sau a principiilor „corecte” sau „adecvate” ale dreptăţii sociale. În sfărşit, a treia este o controversă pe marginea acceptabilităţii apelului la conceptul de „dreptate socială”.
      În cea mai mare parte a capitolului de faţă prezint pe scurt principalele idei, poziţii şi argumente invocate de filosofii politici recenţi în cadrul fiecăreia dintre aceste controverse. Pentru a respecta specificul unui capitol introductiv, am încercat să fiu cât mai imparţíal în prezentarea lor. Există însă şi locuri în care am exprimat sau măcar am sugerat propriile mele opinii. Sper totuşi că acest lucru nu îl va împiedica prea mult pe cititor să caute să-şi formeze şi să-şi întemeieze cât mai solid propriile sale opinii cu privire la chestiunile în dispută.

Mead referred to behaviorism as the science that describes human activity in terms of conduct, highlighting its importance for understanding human psychological processes. However, Mead also specified that the observation of behavior is just one of the methods of psychology. The active involvement of the individual in the social act points out the role that consciousness plays in the individual's experience of signifying and evaluating " the world that is there ". Thus Mead's social behavioral psychology is related to his behavioral theory of meaning according to which the social character of " meaning " is expressed in the functional identity of individuals' responses to the same sensible stimulus. Mead's social psychology and theory of meaning also offers some useful elements to overcome critical observations that Sen has mobilized to Samuelson's and Little's theory of consumer behavior in economics, as well as integrating Davidson's linguistic approach to Decision Theory. Comparison with Sen's and Davidson's proposals would in fact offer the occasion to argue in favor of a pragmatist theoretical approach to Decision Theory related to the communicative dimension.

The book addresses the crucial question of identity, its relation to violence and how to move ahead to a more humane and peaceful world. It is a collection of a series of lectures delivered by Amartya Sen at various universities around the world since 2000. As it is not a book that has come out of a specific research study per say, the chapters of the book are loosely structured, sometimes the reader might feel that the author repeats the same thought and its examples. These overlapping of thoughts and discussions across the chapters are more of a reiteration that serves to further nuance a point made earlier, than just a repetition that merely restates it (Heradia, 2006, p. 3586). Nevertheless, the book is lucid and persuasive in presenting a new perspective to understanding violence and peace building. It is a timely critique of the existing dominant positions on understanding violence and the steps taken to bring peace. It explores the lines that divide the people and tries to search the hope of harmony in today's disturbed world.

The subtitle of the book Bengal Famine is phrased in the following words: ‘As revealed in a Survey of the Destitutes in Calcutta’. It is true that the book is the result of a survey undertaken by a team of anthropologists during 1943-44 in Calcutta city and also in the villages of the ten districts of undivided Bengal. The idea of conducting a survey with a team of trained anthropologists was first conceived by T.C. Das in July-August of 1943 when hundreds of hungry destitutes entered into the city of Calcutta in search of food. Das proposed about the survey to his colleagues and prepared a detailed questionnaire and a team was formed with eleven trained anthropologists including the teachers and research students of the Department of Anthropology of the Calcutta University. The data thus collected were analysed and a preliminary report was written and a major part of the report was submitted to the Famine Inquiry Commission (constituted by the colonial government) in 1944 in the form of a memorandum. The report was later written in the form of a book by T.C.Das in July 1948 and was published in 1949 by the Calcutta University. Bengal Famine, therefore, is a unique example of team work under the leadership of T.C.Das by a dedicated group of university based anthropologists who were driven more by a kind of social and moral commitment than by pure academic quest.
The team had no national or international funding agency behind them; no political agenda was lying before them. The Calcutta University sanctioned a sum of Rs.500/- only to extend the survey in the rural areas of the 10 districts of erstwhile undivided Bengal. In fact, the two chapters on methodology, which are the best portions of the book, reveal its strength.
Das was much ahead of his time in posing the question of ethics in this pioneering anthropological work. Without avoiding the ethical problems, Das raised the questions at the very beginning of the book Bengal Famine (1943): as revealed in a survey of the destitutes of Calcutta. In chapter II under the subtitle ‘Origin of the idea’ Das wrote:

In July and August, 1943, when the streets of Calcutta were thronged with the destitutes the writer conceived the plan of making a sample survey of these unfortunate people. To ply those persons who had been moving from door to door for a handful of food with questions of socio-economic interest may appear unkind (Das 1949: 11).

He, however, immediately justified his survey by citing the example of medical science which established its practical foundation by experimenting on human misery. I quote him again:

We have no record of the past famines of Bengal……The writer intended to overcome this deficiency as far as it lay within his humble means. Moreover, he was well aware that the data would of some help at least to the people as well as to the Government, in future schemes of rehabilitation as well as in long range remedial measures that may be undertaken by the Government (ibid: 11).