Development as Freedom

Amartya Sen MAINS, SungKungHoe University

International Development in context

Burenjargal Bombish (Rune)

2015.06.26

Amartya Kumar Sen (Amartya Sen)

Born in 1933 in Manikganj dis-trict in British India (Now in Banglades)

Currently, he is a Professor of eco-nomics and philosophy at

Harvard University.

Contributions in areas of: Welfare economics Social choice theory Economic and social justice Economic theories of famines Indexes of the measure of well-being of citizens of develop-ing countries

His has authored more than 100 books - Translated into more than 30 languages

Awards The Nobel Memorial Prize

in Economic Sciences in 1998

The Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award of India in 1999 The inaugural Charleston-

EFG John Maynard Keynes Prize in Feb 2015.

The book “Development as Freedom”

Published in 1999 Key focuses are:

Economic development entails a set of freedoms.

Poverty is considered by lack freedoms. Real development is not simply increas-

ing basic incomes. Rather, it requires mechanisms that enable the exercise of freedoms.

Free markets is an essential method of achieving freedom.

There are 12 chapters1. The perspective of freedom2. The ends and the means of develop-ment3. Freedom and the foundations of justice4. Poverty as capability deprivation5. Markets, State and Opportunity6. The importance of democracy

7. Famines and other crises8. Women’s agency and social change9. Population, food and freedom10. Culture and Human Rights11. Social choice and individual behavior12. Individual freedom as a social commit-ment

Gross National Product? Rise in personal incomes? Industrialization?

Technological advance? Social modernization?

What is development?These are all important

but

are means and not ends.

The world has unprecedented opulence and yet denies freedoms

to vast numbers of people.

Introduction

What is development?

• Development is process of expanding the substan-tial freedoms that people enjoy?

• Development requires the removing of major sources of unfree-dom

Social & Eco-nomic arrange-

mentse.g edu & health

facilities

Political & civil

rights

poverty and Tyranny

poor economic opportuni-ties

social deprivation

neglect of public facilities intolerance

FREEDOMS

UNFREEDOMS

Introduction

Development is an integrated process of substantive freedoms that connect with one another.

Freedoms of different kinds can strengthen one another.

With adequate social opportunities, individuals can effectively shape their own destiny and help each other.

What is development?

Introduction

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3IQOb3Aw0M

Introduction

FREE-DOM

PROCESS OF DEVEL-OPMENT

Evaluation Reason

Effective-ness rea-

son

Effectiveness and Interconnec-tions

Free AGENCY of people – Achieve-ment of develop-

mentMeasuring free-

doms that people have enhanced

• People are not passive receipts of benefits but active agent and driving force.

Introduction

1. Political freedom and quality of life GNP - less attention on the political and social freedom - Effective in

contributing in economic growth Income per head VS Freedom to live long Development analysis is relevant even for richer countries

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHamsi388tc)

2. Transactions, Markets and Economic Unfreedom Freedom of exchange Freedom to enter market Freedom of transaction are basic liberties

IntroductionIllustrations

(Development as freedom perspective)

3. Organization and values

Appreciation of the vital roles of many different institutions in the process of development.

Main values and social behav-iors

Shared forms Presence or absence of cor-

ruption

IntroductionIllustrations

(Development as freedom perspective)

Market & market re-

lated organi-zations

Governments and local au-

thorities

Political partiesCivic institutions

Educational ar-rangements

Process of Development

4. Institutions and instrumental freedoms There are 5 types of freedom, seen in this instrumental perspec-

tive:

IntroductionIllustrations

(Development as freedom perspective)

Political freedoms

Eco-nomic

facilities

Social oppor-

tuni-ties

Transpa-rency

guaran-tees

Protec-tive se-curity

Chapter 11. Processes and Opportu-nities

Freedom of actions & deci-

sion

Processes

Opportunities

Unfreedom Inadequate process

Inadequate opportunities2. Two roles of Free-dom

Evaluation of success and failure

Individual ini-tiative and social effec-

tivenessFree-dom

3. Income and Capabil-ities Poverty and Inequal-ity

income deprivations ≠

capability depriva-tions

• European attempts to move to “self-help” social climate without devising adequate policies of unemployment

make the “self-help” extremely difficult.

• It leads to losses of self reliance, self confidence, and psychological and physical health.

Chapter 14. Income and Mortality

• African Americans are more wealthy than people in much poorer regions such as China, Kerala and Sri Lanka, Jamaica , Costa Rica. But their life expectancy is shorter.

The causal influences on the contrasts: Social arrangements Community relations e.g. medical coverage, public health care,

school education, law and order etc. • When William Petty initiated income and the expenditure method

of estimating national income, he was concerned “Common safety” and

“Each person’s particular happiness”.

83% - 75 aged

72-74% - 75 aged

67% - 75 aged

5. Markets and Free-dom

There are two arguments in the market mechanism.

1. Denial of opportunities of transaction by arbitrary control, can be source of unfreedom – Does not depend on the effi-ciency of market mechanism or any analysis of the consequences. 2. Arbitrary restriction of the market mechanism can lead to a reduction of freedoms because of the consequential effects of the absence of market.

John Hicks - The liberal or non-interference principles of

the classical economists were not in the first place economic principles but to apply to a much wider field E.g. Slaves life expectancy and wages were just as high as many other peoples and yet no-one chose that way of life when given a choice

Chapter 1

Issue of participation is central Economic development of a nation may lead to loss of traditions and cultural heritage. Others may say it is better to be rich and happy than impoverished and traditional. In the direct involvement, people should decide “what

should be best”:1. The basic value – traditions they whish and not wish

to followed2. The persistence that established traditions be followed

6. Tradition, culture and democ-racy

Culture is Destiny – Lee Kuan Yew

Chapter 1

• The process of development is not essentially differ-ent from the history of overcoming these unfree-doms.

• “Development as Freedom” is not so much to order all states or one “complete ordering” but to draw attention on important aspects of the process of development.

• The approach requires no such unanimity. Indeed debates on important political arguments in the process of democratic participation that characterizes development.

Ending remarks

Chapter 1

Through capitalist especially neo-liberal capitalist perspec-tive, too much attention on freedom (social issues) but not capital issue both for individuals and community.

The absence of an analysis of the power relations that cause and reproduce underdevelopment through na-tional and international political institutions.

Promoted the establishment of democratic ideals and free-doms, “unfreedoms” prolonged by contemporary neo-liberal developmental models.

Suggested to initiate debates and political arguments to tackle the poverty and unfreedom in society. But there is no solid approaches that he offered and no practical achieve-ments.

Critics

What is the key learning in your point of view?

In the “Development as Freedom” perspective, how do you define current development/ level of freedom of your

country?

Among all different freedoms, which one is the most vital in the lenses of “Development as freedom”? Why?

Do you have any disagreements? Why?

Discussion question

http://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/current-affairs/charleston-efg-john-maynard-keynes-prize-2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen http://theviewspaper.net/development-as-freedom-amartya-sen/ http://politics.news.mn/content/182031.shtml http://dannyreviews.com/h/Development_Freedom.html http://

www.reallylearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/development-as-freedom1.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3IQOb3Aw0M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHamsi388tc

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/none/review-development-freedom

http://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue8-focus1 http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/953-a-balanced-view-of-development-

as-freedom.

Resources