Editing Amartya Sen (section)

=== "Equality of What?" (1979) ===
Sen's revolutionary contribution to development economics and social indicators is the concept of "[[Capability approach|capability]]" developed in his article "Equality of What?".<ref name="What">{{Cite web |last=Sen |first=Amartya |date=22 May 1979 |title="Equality of What?" |url=https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/s/sen80.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619215632/https://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/s/sen80.pdf |archive-date=19 June 2021 |website=Tanner Lectures - The University of Utah}}</ref> He argues that governments should be measured against the concrete capabilities of their citizens. This is because top-down development will always trump [[human rights]] as long as the definition of terms remains in doubt (is a "right" something that must be provided or something that simply cannot be taken away?). For instance, in the United States citizens have a right to vote. To Sen, this concept is fairly empty. In order for citizens to have a capacity to vote, they first must have "functionings". These "functionings" can range from the very broad, such as the availability of education, to the very specific, such as transportation to the [[Polling station|polls]]. Only when such barriers are removed can the citizen truly be said to act out of personal choice. It is up to the individual society to make the list of minimum capabilities guaranteed by that society. For an example of the "capabilities approach" in practice, see [[Martha Nussbaum]]'s ''Women and Human Development''.<ref>{{cite book | last = Nussbaum | first = Martha | author-link = Martha Nussbaum | title = Women and human development: the capabilities approach | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge New York | year = 2000 | isbn = 9780521003858 }}</ref>