Strengthening the capability approach : the foundations of the capability approach, with insights from two challenges

The Capability Approach was initially developed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, with the first basic articulation presented in his 1979 ‘Equality of What?’ Tanner Lecture. Since then, the approach has gained a huge amount of attention as a conceptual framework which offers a clear and insightful way to measure well-being and development. Most recently, the approach has been refined and extended by Martha Nussbaum to issues of disability, nationality, and species membership in political philosophy. This project is about the foundations of the capability approach. More specifically, this project asks whether we can, and whether there are good reasons to, strengthen those foundations. The conclusions drawn here are that we ought to think seriously about the way that the capability approach develops as a theory that responds to real world challenges and change. More importantly, this project contends – in light of the challenges of future people and indigenous peoples – that there is good reason to think of new ways to ground the approach. This project takes up this challenge and grounds the approach in a modified version of Tim Mulgan’s approach to well-being. This project demonstrates that this alternative enriches the capability approach by providing us with a way of making sense of important problems, and with options for moving forward. Overall, this project asks important questions about how the capability approach could evolve based on challenges that remain relatively under-explored in the current literature. This project contributes to this literature by demonstrating that we can and ought to strengthen the capability approach and its ability to understand, take on board, and resolve these challenges

El enfoque de las capacidades como teoría de la justicia: aclaraciones y desafíos

Las teorías de justicia social y global constituyen un importante e influyente corpus de investigación en filosofía política contemporánea. Estas teorías de justicia, concebidas para explicar cómo distribuir los beneficios y cargas en y entre sociedades, e interesadas en indagar qué esquemas sociales pueden justificarse, difieren en algunos aspectos importantes: 1) ¿Sobre qué bases se justifican los principios? 2) ¿Cuáles son estos principios? 3) ¿Cuáles deben ser los parámetros de justicia? 4) ¿Quién está obligado a perseguir y hacer realidad esquemas sociales justos? 5) ¿Cuál es el alcance de la justicia? y 6) ¿Cuáles son las unidades de interés pertinentes? (Robeyns, 2011)

Reimagining the human-environment relationship : indigenous philosophy and intergenerational justice

This paper forms part of the volume Reimagining the Human-Environment Relationship for Stockholm+50. This curated collection of ideas captures, interrogates, and elevates alternative paradigms of the human-nature relationship – existing and new, and from various disciplines and societies – creating a space to recast our relationship with the environment and inform future policymaking

Culture and sustainable development: Indigenous contributions

The Sustainable Development Goals (much like the Millennium Development Goals) sideline culture as a dimension of development. This short paper reconsiders the place of culture in sustainable development, and explores what we ought to mean when we say that all cultures and civilizations can contribute to sustainable development [UN (United Nations). 2014. "Open Working Group Proposal for Sustainable Development Goals." http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300]. We ask what indigenous contributions to sustainable development might be, and we consider how insights from Maori and Aboriginal indigenous peoples transform how sustainable development might be understood and pursued

Contribution of Indigenous Peoples' understandings and relational frameworks to invasive alien species management

Abstract Introduced species that spread and become invasive are recognised as a major threat to global biological diversity, ecosystem resilience and economic stability. Eradication is often a default conservation management strategy even when it may not be feasible for a variety of reasons. Assessment of the substantive socioeconomic and ecological impacts of invasive alien species (IAS), both negative and positive, is increasingly viewed as an important step in management. We argue that one solution to IAS management is to align models of alien species management with Indigenous management frameworks that are relational and biocultural. We make the theoretical case that centring Indigenous management frameworks promises to strengthen overall management responses and outcomes because they attend directly to human and environmental justice concerns. We unpack the origins of the ‘introduced species paradigm’ to understand how binary framing of so‐called ‘aliens’ and ‘natives’ recalls harmful histories and alienates Indigenous stewardship. Such a paradigm thereby may limit application of Indigenous frameworks and management, and impede long‐term biodiversity protection solutions. We highlight how biocultural practices applied by Indigenous Peoples to IAS centre protecting relationships, fulfilling responsibilities and realising justice. Finally, we argue for a pluralistic vision that acknowledges multiple alternative Indigenous relationships and responses to introduced and IAS which can contribute to vibrant futures where all elements of society, including kin in the natural world, are able to flourish. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog

Mātauranga as knowledge, process and practice in Aotearoa New Zealand

The future of Aotearoa New Zealand’s biodiversity is intimately linked to the health of Māori environmental knowledge, the ability to work within different philosophical traditions, and a willingness to work at the intersections of philosophy, cultural practice and science. Māori environmental philosophies and knowledge systems (mātauranga) are intricately rooted in and shaped by Pacific pathways, and shaped by the oral traditions that connect Pacific journeys, encounters with new landscapes, and the ongoing socio-environmental and political experiences of today. Ecological knowledge has a particularly important role within this mātauranga knowledge system, and as such is deeply embedded in tribal histories. The pairing of Māori environmental knowledge with a range of other scientific tools, models and analyses is a trend that will help provide beneficial indicators of population and ecosystem health, that will in turn feed the growth and continuance of mātauranga. Recent laws have pioneered co-management solutions that embody partnership with Māori tribal groups, and enable customary responsibilities. Ethical data management guidelines, that draw on a foundation of Māori philosophies, ethics and practices, are in development for biobanking and genetic or genomic research. Museum and herbarium data are also increasingly being linked to cultural knowledge and relationships. For practitioners, access is a prerequisite to practice; locking up the environment, and locking up collections in museums, acts to alienate Māori and reduces capacity to respond to both cultural prerogatives and national challenges. Scientists who work with Māori environmental knowledge or mātauranga more broadly are part of a shifting inter-disciplinary landscape of solution building at national and international scales, where considerations of intellectual property rights, ethical research partnerships, data sovereignty and community empowerment all contribute to best outcomes

Desigualdades sociales y oportunidades ciudadanas

Rauschmayer, F.; Watene, K.; Williams, K.; Jenkin, B.; Boni Aristizábal, A. (2011). Desigualdades sociales y oportunidades ciudadanas. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities. 12(3):465-466. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/87832S46546612

Negotiating greater Māori participation in Antarctic and Southern Ocean research, policy, and governance

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