Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach by Martha C. Nussbaum

Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach Reviews

• 
  Ruth

  Incredibly interesting but probably not the best at being the first book on the topic. The author refers to other books on the subject frequently, assuming reader's familiarity with earlier consepts/conclusions and I felt that it was more important for her to have that conversation than present the topic of capabilities.
  
  She often refers to the work of Amartya Sen, maybe I should have started there.
  
  But there are extremely interesting parts in the book - the part where she discusses the shortcomings of the GDP and other methods of measuring the quality of life and a brilliant part where she tracks the origins of this approach in the work of Aristotel, the Stoics and Adam Smith.
  
  My favorite quotes:
  
  "A long tradition, beginning in the West at least with Aristotle, has argued that a key task of government, and a reason for the existence of government, is to secure to people their most central entitlements."
  
  "Capability theorists need to learn all they can from experimental work in psychology, but they also need to become readers of novels, biographies, autobiographies, and psychological case histories-anything that can enhance their grasp of those complicated elements of human experience on which our hope of political achievement and stability depends."
  
  "The purpose of global development, like the purpose of a good domestic national policy, is to enable people to live full and creative lives, developing their potential and fashioning a meaningful existence commensurate with their equal human dignity. In other words, the real purpose of development is human development;"
• 
  Ryan

  Nussbaum has a cutting mind and is on the forefront of modern ethics. This book is a fine example of her well-contextualized, practical, thinking.
• 
  Cheyanne

  I like how this approach is flexible enough to adapt to different cultures, belief systems, etc. What I struggle with is that in allowing people to self-determine what human dignity looks like and how a capability is ensured or enacted, you leave copious room for internalized sexism, racism, homophobia, etc. to limit someone's self-advocacy. If you don't know how much freedom you could have, the limited freedom you do have seems like all there is to reach for.
• 
  Jared Saxton

  This book contains really interesting ideas about development but focuses a lot on the abstract. Nussbaum assumes that the reader is familiar with basic philosophy, ethics, and political economy, so the text reads much like academic papers in those fields which can be rather dull. I did enjoy the first 50 pages or so as well as some ideas in the last chapter, but the philosophical critiques weren't particularly moving.
• 
  Arpith Phillips

  Incredibly important to the capability approach and yet so incredibly hard to read. I still haven’t learnt to expect the immense pain of reading modern philosophy
• 
  Joseph Morris

  I came to this book looking for context on human rights: theoretical bases, and how have have been developed since the Universal Declaration of Human rights was drafted in 1947-48. It's not quite the primary purpose of this book -- which is more to describe the capabilities approach to human development that Nussbaum developed with Amartya Sen, and in some ways Sen feels like a ghost co-author to the book since he's mentioned so many times. Nevertheless did not disappoint.
  
  To really explain her/Sen's capabilities approach, Nussbaum has to briefly explain everything about human rights. Unlike many academic philosophers, she is good at explaining briefly. She describes the Aristotelian, utilitarian, and Indian (Ashoka primarily) origins for human rights (and others), and then the intersections with Kantian/Rawlian notions of justice in the 19th/20th century. She also summarizes the capabilities approach to human rights (Nussbaum and Sen) as a sort of late 20th century development, which seems to be mostly an effort to make human rights (as declared in the UDHR and various subsequent treaties and national constitutions) more developed and grounded, and to give it a sense of internationalization and universality, and to make a slight shift from "rights" language towards the development of capabilities of individuals, and dealing with the weeds of, for example, how to address the development of women when that seems to clash with religious beliefs.
  
  Two key concepts I got from this book about human rights, which I did not have before, are:
  
  (1) They are primarily a political construct, not a philosophical one. There are ways to construct human rights philosophically, but that's not the only way in.
  (2) As a political construct, human rights can be an "overlapping consensus", as a conclusion that can be arrived at as an Aristotelian classicist, a Mill-style utilitarian, from various religious traditions, as a Marxist, et cetera. This is a product of looting the concept of human rights (in the process of drafting the declaration) into Rawls's "original position"/ "overlapping consensus" frameworks, which seems to me is a better application of Rawls ideas to historical reality then he managed himself.
  
  The additional brilliance of this book is in the editing. It's short, and tells you enough about many/most of the philosophical aspects of human rights to get the general idea of where they came from and where they are going. Nussbaum has an academic's sense of attribution and leaves trails off in all directions that an interested reader could follow. And while I'm sure she has an academic's sense of how to explain something exhaustively, she knows how to shut it off (unlike, say, Chomsky or Rawls who both seem to have trouble explaining anything in less than total detail), which she does here. If you are looking for a book to teach a course on human rights with a strong sense of history and theoretical bases, you could definitely do worse than this. It does of course have a lot of emphasis on the Nussbaum-and-Sen ideas, more than a pure summary ever would, but the Capabilities Approach seems, you know, worth learning about as a major thread of 21st century human rights thought.
  
  The other kind of . . . not omission, really, but bit that gets a shorter shrift here is human rights in developed countries. Nussbaum and Sen both have a primary interest in India. And the overall professional frame for the Capabilities Approach is international development; a sort of UNDP/USAID state of mind. So there is not a lot of emphasis on the United States. In particular I would have been curious to read some history on the divergence between the EU and the USA on human rights, and how they became such a core part of EU thought and political life but not the United States.
• 
  Zachary

  Martha Nussbaum is one of the twenty-first century’s most influential ethicists, feminists, and political philosophers. Her capabilities approach to human development, first championed by Amartya Sen, another prominent economist and philosopher, provided the theoretical foundation for the United Nations’ Human Development Index, which accounts for non-monetary developmental factors like life expectancy, education, and adult literacy, in addition to per-capita income. Ultimately, Nussbaum, like many ethicists and economists, is frustrated with conventional economic indicators like Gross Domestic Product that simply fail to tell the whole story when it comes to human development. The capabilities approach, Nussbaum asserts, offers a much more colorful, and helpful, picture, as it assesses a broad spectrum of “substantive freedoms”—rather than, say, basic needs, happiness, or income—that all human persons should possess. Nussbaum outlines ten “central capabilities,” which include: life, bodily health, bodily integrity, senses, imagination, and thought, emotions, practical reason, affiliation, the ability to live with other species, play, and control over one’s environment. Deprivation of any one of these capabilities, which cover numerous qualitative and quantitative aspects of individuals’ lives, thereby constitutes poverty.
  
  Creating Capabilities, then, is a primer for laypersons interested in the human development debate and welfare economics. As an introductory text, with its clear prose and concise justifications, it undoubtedly succeeds. Nussbaum not only familiarizes readers with the capabilities approach, but also outlines the pitfalls of other human development approaches rooted in utilitarianism and the aforementioned Gross Domestic Product. She also traces the philosophical history of the approach, and helpfully introduces readers to Aristotle, Stoicism, Bentham’s utilitarianism, and Rawls’s political philosophy. In the end, I only find fault with the fact that Nussbaum fails to make a persuasive case for the capabilities approach’s practicality as a tool for measurement, especially in individual countries. While the human development index has no doubt been successful, it cannot simply replace the Official Poverty Measure in the United States, for example, without modification. On the other hand, while the Supplemental Poverty Measure accounts for many of the capabilities Nussbaum is concerned with, it too falls short as an adequate measure of capabilities. Nevertheless, simply because there may be difficulty in transforming the capabilities approach into an operational poverty measure does not mean that it cannot or should not be done. I am confident that more work on the approach by Nussbaum, Sen, and others will yield more effective ways of empirically measuring those qualitative capabilities that thus far have proven difficult to evaluate.
  
• 
  Sylvain Bérubé

  Lecture agréable et fort pertinente. J’ai particulièrement aimé la façon dont l’auteur a su lier la théorie à la pratique, entre autre en se référant à de multiples reprises à l’histoire de Vasanti qu’elle présente en introduction.
  
  «L’objectif du développement mondial, tout comme l’objectif d’une bonne politique intérieure, est de permettre aux individus de mener des vies pleines et créatives en développant leur potentiel et en créant une vie sensée, qui exprime la dignité humaine, égale pour tous. En d’autres termes, le véritable objectif du développement est le développement humain; les autres approches et mesures [dont le PIB] ne fournissent au mieux que des approximations pour le développement [et la qualité] de la vie humaine (…)»
• 
  Kony

  On my second read I found less to love, more to question -- because, between reads, I've lived more life and witnessed more lofty theories mooted by messy realities. Nussbaum's well-intended ideas have pushed research in promising directions. BUT. Many devilish details occupy the space between her idealized policy goals and their actual implementation in diverse contexts. Thus her proposals are less practically helpful, and less globally exportable, than she lets on.
  
  (Originally read in June 2012.)
• 
  Arthur Davis

  An interesting account of fundamental rights, and a good effort to outline a solid list of them from a single starting point. Nussbaum takes a lot of inspiration from Rawls and Mill, and it shows in her analysis. One noticeable flaw is her reluctance to take her ideas to their logical conclusion, which seem to point up and out from the standard boundaries of the liberal democratic tradition. It's definitely a good work to read to establish a baseline idea of human rights, but that hesitation ultimately makes it feel incomplete.
• 
  Sarah

  Considering I read this for a module at university, it was actually really interesting. Nussbaum makes some great points and I found myself agreeing with her a lot. It is also written for the general reader so the language is not too technical and it is easy to understand. This is a great book for all those interested in learning a bit more about the human development approach in developmental theories.
• 
  Hannah Spadafora

  A little dry in some places ( not uncommon in philosophy) and there are some points I disagree with, but her central claim of what rights people should have protected, what duties this implies on behalf of the state and institutions, and that all humans ( and non- human animals) deserve divinity is solid. Also she is very clear in her writing ( somewhat uncommon in philosophy) - this makes her work accessible to even a lay audience.
• 
  Lisa

  I appreciate this way of thinking about the world, and had hoped this would be a short, accessible way to share them with my friends, but the conversation here is too internal. Look for other Nussbaum books to get a better view of what she is arguing.
• 
  Hailey Kim

  Just read this book in 2015 and found there is in fact nothing new - all have been already said by numerous scholars and international organizations. Yes, development paradigm has been shifted from growth oriented approach (GDP centered) to more human centric approach with the notion of 'creating or enhancing capabilities'. She in my point of view successfully succeeded what has been already built by Amartya Sen's 'development as freedom'. She goes through the concept of capabilities approach and various different concepts like 'dignity', 'choice or freedom', opportunities, social justice,
  
  What are capabilities? They are the answers to the question, "what is this person able to do and to be" In other words, they are what Sen calls "substantial freedoms," a set of opportunities to choose and to act. In one standard formulation by Sen, 'a person's 'capability' refers to the alternative combinations of functioning's that are feasible to her to achieve. Capability is thus a kinds of freedom the substantive freedom to achieve alternative functioning combinations. In other words, they are not just abilities residing inside a person but also the freedoms or opportunities created by a combination of personal abilities and the political social and economic environment. (20)
  
  She then sets a list of Central Capabilities including: Life, Bodily Health, Bodily Integrity, Senses, Imagination, and Thought; Emotions, Practical Reasons, Affiliation, Other Species, Play and Control over one's environment. It's her way of analysis but anyway argues that these are based on human conditions / psychology; yet not a comprehensive list based on human diversity. In the chapter 5, she goes through cultural diversity aspects - being aware of criticisms over human rights argument are western notion, she seems to want to bring counter arguments saying there are indeed other cultures' traditions which are compatible with the western philosophy. But again this is also already done by many other scholars like Sen. Plus, she couldn't got further than that - just mentioned China and India… a bit disappointing.
  
  Apart from that, she tries to go beyond nation state boundary examining global responsibility to less capacitated people. This to me a bit out of focus. Also, again she brought examples of western philosophical influence without going through other backgrounds.
  
  I heard a couple of times her names and fames...so followed several lectures by her. Overall, my impression is that she's just a copier of scholars like Sen without successfully showing any new argument.
  
  "If a country’s Gross Domestic Product increases each year, but so does the percentage of its people deprived of basic education, health care, and other opportunities, is that country really making progress? If we rely on conventional economic indicators, can we ever grasp how the world’s billions of individuals are really managing?
  In this powerful critique, Martha Nussbaum argues that our dominant theories of development have given us policies that ignore our most basic human needs for dignity and self-respect. For the past twenty-five years, Nussbaum has been working on an alternate model to assess human development: the Capabilities Approach. She and her colleagues begin with the simplest of questions: What is each person actually able to do and to be? What real opportunities are available to them?
  The Capabilities Approach to human progress has until now been expounded only in specialized works. Creating Capabilities, however, affords anyone interested in issues of human development a wonderfully lucid account of the structure and practical implications of an alternate model. It demonstrates a path to justice for both humans and nonhumans, weighs its relevance against other philosophical stances, and reveals the value of its universal guidelines even as it acknowledges cultural difference. In our era of unjustifiable inequity, Nussbaum shows how—by attending to the narratives of individuals and grasping the daily impact of policy—we can enable people everywhere to live full and creative lives."
• 
  Ietrio

  The moronic thoughts of a successful governmental bureaucrat. Take the blurb:
  
  > If a country's Gross Domestic Product increases each year, but so does the percentage of its people deprived of basic education, health care, and other opportunities, is that country really making progress?
  
  The GDP includes the military spending of the elites. It includes the ever increasing wages of the parasitic class of which Nussbaum is a proud representative. It includes every Pharaonic project started by equally moronic politicians. In short: it has nothing to do with the Economy or the life standards of the population.
  
  Basic education. Sweet. What is basic? A few centuries ago, the enlightened Europe thought basic education means knowing who Jesus was. Only a century ago it meant being able to spell your name so you could sign a contract. Today, for leeches like Nussbaum it means having a high school diploma so you could sign your soul for the certificates sold by the Factories that employ people like Nussbaum. In shit: basic education means nothing. It's an emotional term that vaguely relates with the hopes of the speaker.
  
  Deprived of health care? The illegal migrants that are denied access to basic services by the Governments supported by rich white voters like Nussbaum have still access to health care the King of England could not hope for a century and a half ago. But Nussbaum is acting as a politician and this is his means of gathering more political clout. So the people deprived are an imaginary category that has all the right papers and licenses and are still so poor they live like peasantry in a Medieval Europe.
  
  Other opportunities? Because Nussbaum is a competent politician, not a thinker, here's the catch all. You, dear reader, fill in the whatever issues you might have found, and know that Nussbaum thought of them before.
• 
  Manuel Sotomayor

  Este libro presenta una seria propuesta para re enfocar el desarrollo humano. Partiendo de los trabajos de Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum le da forma a un enfoque de desarrollo basado en una teoría de la justicia que se basa en Sócrates, Aristóteles, Mill, Rawls sin de dejar de tomar distancia en algunos puntos también.
  
  La idea principal del libro, es presentar el Enfoque de las Capacidades que viene a ser la propuesta de desarrollo humano que trabaja. Este enfoque identifica 10 capacidades centrales que son necesarias fomentar y defender para que una vida pueda ser vivida con dignidad.
  
  El libro explica claramente el tipo de teoría que propone argumentando sus posiciones y distanciándose en algunos puntos con propuestas como las del liberalismo político, el utilitarista, el convencionalismo, entre otras. Nussbaum defiende la idea que debemos buscar que las personas seamos libres de poder tomar decisiones que busquen nuestra felicidad y realización (Aristóteles) y para ello plantea estas capacidades. Se entienden capacidades como el conjunto de habilidades de cada personas y la posibilidad que los Estados nos permiten para actualizar (poner en acción/ejecutar) dicha habilidad. Es decir, que no basta que uno tenga la habilidad por ejemplo de pensar críticamente, que es una habilidad que debería ser desarrollada sino que es crucial que el Estado nos permita expresarnos críticamente.
  
  Es un libro muy sensato con una propuesta ambiciosa y por ello abre la ruta a seguir leyendo la basta obra de esta filósofa.
• 
  Saara

  Ihan kiinnostava! Taloustiede tai kehitystutkimus kun eivät ole erityisalaani, oli kiinnostavaa lukea erittäin perusteellisesti pohjustettua (Aristoteles ja Plato mainittu moneen kertaan) näkemystä siitä, miksi BKT on itse asiassa todella huono mittaamaan ihmisten hyvinvointia ja valtioiden kehitystä, ja minkälainen lähestymistapa olisi parempi. Hankalasti suomennettava Capabilities Approach määrittelee ”toimintaedellytyksiä”, jotka jokaisen oikeudenmukaisen valtion pitäisi kansalaisilleen taata. Näiden pohjalta ihmiset saavat itse päättää miten toimia, mutta mahdollisuudet esim. koulutukseen ja terveyteen on oltava. Miinusta siitä, että lyhyemminkin ja vähemmillä korulauseilla tämän kaiken olisi voinut kirjoittaa.
• 
  Hannah Scanlon

  Nussbaum succinctly argues for the human development approach of economic theory. This approach finds its center in human capabilities and its commitment in the equal dignity of all human beings regardless of race, class, religion, gender, nation, or caste. It's central belief is that all lives are capable of equal human dignity. By offering a focus on quality of life and social justice that is also grounded in political neoliberal roots, Nussbaum believes to have remedied major deficiencies in other economic approaches rooted in similar theoretical commitments. A good read for those wishing to better understand economic theory and world poverty.
• 
  Julia Smith-brake

  3.5 and it was a solid 4 for the first 5 chapters, but then gets a little tedious. Overall an good overview of the philosophy, history, and usefulness of the capability approach. In her own words, as I couldn’t put it better myself, the approach is a contribution to debate, not dogma, as “Our world needs more critical thinking and more respectful argument. The distressing common practice of arguing by sound bite urgently needs to be replaced by a mode of public discourse that is itself more respectful of our equal human dignity.”
• 
  Profe Ronald Rojas

  Este libro configura una propuesta alternativa para concebir los procesos sociales y la dirección de los mismos desde las instituciones gubernamentales y los entes de dirección de las relaciones cotidianas en las comunidades. A pesar se concentrase en una exposición teórica de fundamentación permite establecer un punto de partida para re pensar los conceptos de progreso, bienestar, formación, educación, proyecto de vida, etc.
• 
  Yvonne

  Nussbaum leunt te veel op Sen. Klaarblijkelijk was er sprake van een (beoogde?) relatie liet ik me in mijn filosofiegroep vertellen. Dat zou iets kunnen verklaren. De lijstjes met 'capabilities' zijn volgens ons wel heel erg op een westerse (ngo)leest geschoeid. Hoe kolonialistisch ben je bezig als je haar weg zou volgen? Het boek in combinatie met allerlei hedendaagse thema's leverde veel discussie op in onze groep. Dat was er goed aan!
• 
  Caleb

  Nussbaum provides a far-reaching critique of economic theory and in doing so defends a version of the capability approach developed by Sen. The clarity of the author's writing, makes this book especially suitable for students of the social sciences without a strong philosophical background
• 
  Linaguisao

  Este libro soporta toda la teoría del enfoque de derechos de Martha Nussbaum. Es un apoyo y una crítica a la teoría de Amartya Sen. Necesario para quienes lideran política públicas para el desarrollo humano