Development and freedom
Abstract
This paper is an attempt to understand how Amartya Sen's thinking on development and freedom has evolved from his critique of welfare economics and his concern with underdevelopment and poverty. It is argued that Sen has done a great deal to rescue welfare economics from the consequences of methodological individualism by seeking an objective basis for comparisons of well‐being, by insisting on the need for interpersonal comparability and by creating a space for normative evaluations. Sen's contribution to the human development approach with its emphasis on positive freedom has also helped to provide a valuable counterweight to the dominant free market approach. However, some concerns are expressed that the approach does not give sufficient attention to long‐run dynamics and that the conception of capability employed is not helpful for the understanding of development
Keywords
Citation
Prendergast, R. (2004), "Development and freedom", Journal of Economic Studies, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 39-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443580410516251
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited