Capabilities, Gender, Equality
Towards Fundamental Entitlements

Provides unique reflections on the capability approach and its relevance to new human development policies and political liberalism.

Flavio Comim (Edited by), Martha C. Nussbaum (Edited by)

9781107015692, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 April 2014

484 pages, 5 b/w illus. 11 tables
23.7 x 15.8 x 3.4 cm, 0.86 kg

'It is important to explore alternative approaches to the interpretation and use of the idea of capabilities, and this wide-ranging collection of essays makes a significant contribution to the on-going debates on the subject. It is a very welcome addition to the literature.' Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate, Economics 1998

Questions of gender, injustice and equality pervade all our lives, and as such, the capabilities or 'human development' approach to understanding well-being and basic political entitlements continues to be debated. In this thought-provoking book, a range of authors provide unique reflections on the capabilities approach and, specifically, Martha C. Nussbaum's contributions to issues of gender, equality and political liberalism. Moreover, the authors tackle a broad range of development issues, including those of religion, ecological and environmental justice, social justice, child care, disability and poverty. This is the first book to examine Nussbaum's work in political philosophy in such depth, bringing together a group of distinguished experts with diverse disciplinary perspectives. It also features a unique contribution from Nussbaum herself, in which she offers reactions to the discussion and her latest thoughts on the capabilities approach. Capabilities, Gender, Equality will interest a wide range of readers and policymakers interested in new human development policies.

Preface
Introduction: capabilities, challenges, and the omnipresence of political liberalism Martha C. Nussbaum
Part I. The Capabilities Approach: 1. Perfectionist liberalism and political liberalism Martha C. Nussbaum
2. Rawlsian social-contract theory and the severely disabled Henry S. Richardson
3. Logos, pathos and ethos in Martha C. Nussbaum's capabilities approach to human development Des Gasper
4. Building capabilities: a new paradigm for human development Flavio Comim
5. Capabilities or functionings? Anatomy of a debate Marc Fleurbaey
6. From humans to all of life: Nussbaum's transformation of dignity Jeremy Bendik-Keymer
Part II. Gender: 7. Questioning the gender-based division of labour: the contribution of the capabilities approach to feminist economics Ulrike Knoblock
8. Primary goods, capabilities, and the millennium development target for gender equity in education Elaine Unterhalter and Harry Brighouse
9. The weight of institutions on women's capabilities: how far can microfinance help? Muriel Gilardone, Isabelle Guérin and Jane Palier
10. The capabilities of women: towards an alternative framework for development Santosh Mehrotra
11. Applying the capabilities approach to disability, poverty, and gender Patricia Welch Saleeby
12. Educational transformation, gender justice and Nussbaum's capabilities Melanie Walker
13. The social contract, unpaid child care and women's income capability Hilde Bojer
Part III. Equality: 14. Lists and thresholds: comparing the Doyal–Gough theory of human need with Nussbaum's capabilities approach Ian Gough
15. Nussbaum, Rawls, and the ecological limits of justice: using capability ceilings to resolve capability conflicts Breena Holland
16. Social justice and Nussbaum's concept of the person John M. Alexander
17. God and Martha C. Nussbaum: towards a Reformed Christian view of capabilities Jonathan Warner
Index.

Subject Areas: Development economics & emerging economies [KCM], Economic growth [KCG], Economics [KC]