Amartya Sen's 1999 book "Development as Freedom" argues that development should be understood as expanding the freedoms and capabilities of individuals. Sen defines freedom as both the processes that allow freedom of actions and decisions, as well as the opportunities available to individuals. True development requires removing major sources of unfreedom like poverty, tyranny, and lack of economic opportunity. Sen discusses five types of instrumental freedoms - political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees, and protective security - that interact and can strengthen one another in the development process.

1. Development
as Freedom
Amartya Sen
MAINS, SungKungHoe University
International Development in context
Burenjargal Bombish (Rune)
2015.06.26

2. Amartya Kumar Sen (Amartya Sen)
 Born in 1933 in Manikganj district
in British India (Now in Banglades)
 Currently, he is a Professor of eco-
nomics and philosophy at
Harvard University.
 Contributions in areas of:
 Welfare economics
 Social choice theory
 Economic and social justice
 Economic theories of famines
 Indexes of the measure of
well-being of citizens of developing
countries
 His has authored more than 100
books - Translated into more than
30 languages
 Awards
 The Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Sciences in 1998
 The Bharat Ratna, the
highest civilian award of
India in 1999
 The inaugural Charleston-EF
G John Maynard Keynes
Prize in Feb 2015.

3. The book “Development
as Freedom”
 Published in 1999
 Key focuses are:
 Economic development entails a set of
freedoms.
 Poverty is considered by lack freedoms.
 Real development is not simply increasing
basic incomes. Rather, it requires
mechanisms that enable the exercise of
freedoms.
 Free markets is an essential method of achi
eving freedom.
 There are 12 chapters
1. The perspective of freedom
2. The ends and the means of development
3. Freedom and the foundations of justice
4. Poverty as capability deprivation
5. Markets, State and Opportunity
6. The importance of democracy
7. Famines and other crises
8. Women’s agency and social change
9. Population, food and freedom
10. Culture and Human Rights
11. Social choice and individual behavior
12. Individual freedom as a social commitment

4.  Gross National Product?
 Rise in personal incomes?
 Industrialization?
 Technological advance?
 Social modernization?
What is development?
The world has unprecedented opulence and yet denies freedoms
to vast numbers of people.
Introduction

5. What is development?
• Development
is process of
expanding the
substantial
freedoms that
people enjoy?
• Development
requires the
removing of
major sources
of unfreedom
Social & Economic
arrangements
e.g edu & health
facilities
Political &
civil rights
poverty and Tyranny
poor economic opportunities
social deprivation
neglect of public facilities
intolerance
FREEDOMS
UNFREEDOMS
Introduction

6.  Development is an integrated process of substantive freedoms
that connect with one another.
 Freedoms of different kinds can strengthen one another.
 With adequate social opportunities, individuals can effectively
shape their own destiny and help each other.
What is development?
Introduction

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3IQOb3Aw0M
Introduction

8. FREEDOM
PROCESS
OF
DEVELOPMENT
Evaluation
Reason
Effectiveness
reason
Effectiveness and Interconnections
Free AGENCY of
people – Achievement
of development
Measuring freedoms
that people have
enhanced
• People are not passive receipts of benefits
but active agent and driving force.
Introduction

9. 1. Political freedom and quality of life
 GNP - less attention on the political and social freedom - Effective in
contributing in economic growth
 Income per head VS Freedom to live long
 Development analysis is relevant even for richer countries
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHamsi388tc)
2. Transactions, Markets and Economic Unfreedom
 Freedom of exchange
 Freedom to enter market
 Freedom of transaction are basic liberties
Introduction
Illustrations
(Development as freedom perspective)

10. 3. Organization and
values
 Appreciation of the vital
roles of many different
institutions in the process
of development.
 Main values and social
behaviors
 Shared forms
 Presence or absence
of corruption
Introduction
Illustrations
(Development as freedom perspective)
Market &
market related
organizations
Governments
and local
authorities
Political parties
Civic institutions
Educational
arrangements
Process of
Development

11. 4. Institutions and instrumental freedoms
 There are 5 types of freedom, seen in this instrumental perspective:
Introduction
Illustrations
(Development as freedom perspective)
Political
freedoms
Economic
facilities
Social
opportuni-
ties
Transpa-
rency
guaran-
tees
Protective
security

12. Chapter 1
1. Processes and Opportunities
Freedom of
actions & decision
Processes
Opportunities
Unfreedom Inadequate
process
Inadequate opportunities
2. Two roles of Freedom
Evaluation of
success and
failure
Individual
initiative and
social
effectiveness
Freedom
3. Income and Capabilities
Poverty and Inequality
income deprivations
≠
capability deprivations
• European attempts to move
to “self-help” social climate
without devising adequate
policies of unemployment
make the “self-help”
extremely difficult.
• It leads to losses of self
reliance, self confidence,
and psychological and
physical health.

13. Chapter 1
4. Income and Mortality
• African Americans are more wealthy than people in much poorer
regions such as China, Kerala and Sri Lanka, Jamaica , Costa Rica. But
their life expectancy is shorter.
The causal influences on the contrasts:
 Social arrangements
 Community relations e.g. medical coverage, public health care, sc
hool education, law and order etc.
• When William Petty initiated income and the expenditure method of es
timating national income, he was concerned “Common safety” and
“Each person’s particular happiness”.
83% - 75 aged 72-74% - 75 aged 67% - 75 aged

14. 5. Markets and Freedom
 There are two arguments in the market mechanism.
1. Denial of opportunities of transaction by arbitrary control, can be
source of unfreedom – Does not depend on the efficiency of
market mechanism or any analysis of the consequences.
2. Arbitrary restriction of the market mechanism can lead to a reduc
tion of freedoms because of the consequential effects of the
absence of market.
 John Hicks - The liberal or non-interference principles of
the classical economists were not in the first place
economic principles but to apply to a much wider field
E.g. Slaves life expectancy and wages were just as high
as many other peoples and yet no-one chose that way
of life when given a choice
Chapter 1

15.  Issue of participation is central
 Economic development of a nation may lead to loss of
traditions and cultural heritage. Others may say it is better
to be rich and happy than impoverished and traditional.
 In the direct involvement, people should decide “what
should be best”:
1. The basic value – traditions they whish and not wish
to followed
2. The persistence that established traditions be followed
6. Tradition, culture and democracy
Culture is Destiny – Lee Kuan Yew
Chapter 1

16. • The process of development is not essentially different
from the history of overcoming these unfreedoms.
• “Development as Freedom” is not so much to order all
states or one “complete ordering” but to draw attention
on important aspects of the process of development.
• The approach requires no such unanimity. Indeed
debates on important political arguments
in the process of democratic participation
that characterizes development.
Ending remarks
Chapter 1

17.  Through capitalist especially neo-liberal capitalist perspecti
ve, too much attention on freedom (social issues) but not
capital issue both for individuals and community.
 The absence of an analysis of the power relations that
cause and reproduce underdevelopment through
national and international political institutions.
 Promoted the establishment of democratic ideals and free
doms, “unfreedoms” prolonged by contemporary
neo-liberal developmental models.
 Suggested to initiate debates and political arguments to
tackle the poverty and unfreedom in society. But there is
no solid approaches that he offered and no practical achi
evements.
Critics

18.  What is the key learning in your point of view?
 In the “Development as Freedom” perspective, how do you
define current development/ level of freedom of your
country?
 Among all different freedoms, which one is the most vital in t
he lenses of “Development as freedom”? Why?
 Do you have any disagreements? Why?
Discussion question

19.  http://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/current-affairs/charleston-efg-john-
maynard-keynes-prize-2015
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amartya_Sen
 http://theviewspaper.net/development-as-freedom-amartya-sen/
 http://politics.news.mn/content/182031.shtml
 http://dannyreviews.com/h/Development_Freedom.html
 http://www.reallylearning.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/devel
opment-as-freedom1.pdf
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3IQOb3Aw0M
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHamsi388tc
 http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarte
rly/none/review-development-freedom
 http://www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue8-focus1
 http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/953-a-balanced-view-of-devel
opment-as-freedom.
Resources