Amartya Sen's Capability Approach
This concept builds on ideas of justice and equality, providing a contrasting perspective to Rawls' theory.
Amartya Sen's Capability Approach revolutionizes the understanding of welfare by focusing on individuals' capabilities to achieve well-being rather than merely on resources or utility.
This framework emphasizes the importance of freedom and choice, arguing that true justice requires ensuring that individuals can pursue their own life paths effectively.
In contrast to John Rawls' theory, which prioritizes distributive justice through a veil of ignorance, Sen's approach highlights the diverse capabilities individuals possess and the social arrangements that can either enhance or restrict these capabilities.
This paradigm shift has significant implications for policy-making, as it encourages a multidimensional assessment of poverty and inequality, urging governments to create conditions that allow individuals to flourish.
While Prelims may assess understanding of the Capability Approach, Mains might explore its application in evaluating social policies.
This sets the stage for a discussion on how such philosophical frameworks influence contemporary social justice debates.