O enfoque das capacidades na teoria político-econômica de Amartya Sen.

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to explain Sen's capability approach as a theory designed to reconceptualize the space in which human advantage is defined, a definition that is needed for a multitude of exercises, from interpersonal well-being comparison, passing through socioeconomic evaluations of societies or groups, until the definition of the distributive factor in the theories of justice. For this, we will first elucidate the foundations of Sen's theory from his approach to justice, which preaches a practical focus on normative political philosophy, as opposed to another approach that Sen calls institutional transcendentalism. Before describing the capability approach, we will first discuss alternative theories (utilitarianism, resourcefocused approach, and libertarianism), as well as their inconsistencies from Sen's critiques. We will then proceed to describe the capabilities approach, based on the concepts of capacity and functioning, and its connection with the concept of freedom, as well as the redefinition, based on this theory, of the concept of poverty. In the third chapter, we explore the notion of equality from the capability approach and describe the new definition of development that Sen proposes, structurally anchored in the idea of capacity as a representative of freedom. In the last chapter, we will address the practical application of the capabilities approach, using the theme of gender inequality as a way of exemplifying the use of the approach. We will address issues related to the universalist claims of the theory and problems related to practical feasibility as well as legitimacy, and the usefulness of the theory. We will address the problems of determining a set of capabilities that should count for the various exercises to which the theory proposes, as well as the question of defining their relative weights. Finally, we will expose the role of public discussion in Sen's capability approach.