Abstract
To what extent can Amartya Sen’s ideas on freedom and especially his conceptualisation of development as freedom enrich feminist economics? The notion of positive freedom that Sen employs has many attractions and provides important opportunities to
analyse gender inequalities. Sen’s increasing emphasis on freedom as the dominant overall
value to evaluate individual well being and societal development also contains risks, not
least for feminist analysis. We characterise the risks as ‘under-elaboration’ and ‘overextension’ of the concept of freedom. Drawing on Sen’s earlier work and various feminist
theorists, we suggest instead a more emphatically pluralist characterisation of capability,
well being and value. We illustrate this with reference to women’s economic role as care
givers.
analyse gender inequalities. Sen’s increasing emphasis on freedom as the dominant overall
value to evaluate individual well being and societal development also contains risks, not
least for feminist analysis. We characterise the risks as ‘under-elaboration’ and ‘overextension’ of the concept of freedom. Drawing on Sen’s earlier work and various feminist
theorists, we suggest instead a more emphatically pluralist characterisation of capability,
well being and value. We illustrate this with reference to women’s economic role as care
givers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Den Haag |
| Publisher | International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) |
| Number of pages | 28 |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2002 |
Publication series
| Series | ISS working papers. General series |
|---|---|
| Number | 365 |
| ISSN | 0921-0210 |
Series
- ISS Working Paper-General Series