Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

The theoretical capacity of Amartya Sen’s capability approach for the concept of citizenship

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

A. Manoochehri 1
S. nariman 2

1 Professor in Political Science, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

2 PhD in Political Thought, Faculty of Humanities, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22631/isih.2017.2039.2561
Abstract
The capability approach has been the subject of increasingly enthusiastic enquiry in development studies and welfare economics over the last three decades. Although Amartya Sen's capability approach was born in the field of economics, it extended very soon to the humanities and to other social sciences. This approach has been applied in many areas and a practical version has been created. In spite of its development within social and political sciences, few efforts to extend it to the citizenship area have been made. This paper attempts to provide an answer to the question whether the capability approach includes elements sufficient for formulating a citizenship hypothesis. On the basis that every citizenship tradition encompasses two dimensions of right and responsibility, if these two concepts are embodied in the capability approach in such a way as to explain the relationship between individual and society, then we can claim that the capability approach has the potential of extending to the field of citizenship. We show that this approach, with its emphasis on elements like "moral right" and "committed responsibility", encompasses sufficient features for the development of "citizenship of capability".

Keywords

""citizenship"
"capability approach"
"amartya sen"
"moral right"
"Responsibility"
Subjects
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HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
Boochani, M.H., Sarrafi, M., Tavakolina, J., & Dashti, A. (2017). Manouchehri, A., & Nariman, S. (2017). The theoretical capacity of Amartya Sen’s capability approach for the concept of citizenship. Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities, 9(2), 189-210. doi: 10.22035/isih.2017.2039.2561
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Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities
Volume 9, Issue 2 - Serial Number 34
Spring 2017
Pages 189-210

  • Receive Date 11 September 2016
  • Revise Date 07 March 2017
  • Accept Date 26 December 2016

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