Master's degree in public management and governance

Subject: governance and development human

Reading 6: the theory of the human development, proposal of Amartya Sen (*)

The theoretical concept proposed by Sen (2000: 19), defines the development "as a
process of expanding the real freedoms enjoyed by individuals", where "the real
freedom (...) is represented by the person's ability to get alternative combinations
of performances"(Sen, 1992: 81) which allows [the person], across social, economic,
cultural, political and environmental that is, make valuable things for themselves
and their families (Sen, 2000).

Therefore, development should not measure with another indicator that increased
the freedoms of individuals, is not understood as the construction of environments,
in which is expressed the individual freedom to deploy capabilities and the most
precious aspirations of human beings

In this sense, Amartya Sen (1992: 81) says that justice should be assessed by real
freedoms that human beings have to choose your destination according to your own
personal values and in no way material goods or resources that can provide.

In this way, any theory of Justice which has as its premise the search for equity
should start with a direct and profound treatment of real freedoms that people have
to choose their own lifestyle and find it consistently, even when their values may be
different, given the enormous possibilities that every individual, in modern societies,
may have diverging objectives of the rest of the individuals that comprise society,
with those valued goal of everyone on equal terms without establish hierarchies (Sen
1997).

Thus, the objective of development "is related to the linking of real freedoms that
the people of a particular population enjoys" (Sen 2000: 53); where, "people should
be seen as actors actively involved, (...)" in the construction of their own destiny
and not only as recipients"(Sen 2000: 53). I.e. freedom provides the opportunity to
achieve our goals and targets of the things that we have reasons for rating and
includes both processes that allows freedoms of making decision and consequential
actions, as well as effective opportunities for do so, under specific conditions of
existence (Sen 2000).

Therefore, "freedom provides a broader perspective to judge the human benefit and
through it to assess the social success." "Is in this field where capacity arises", as
(*) Picazzo Palencia, Esteban Gutierrez Garza, Esthela, Bonfiglio, José María, & Cantu Martínez, Pedro César. (2011).
the theory of human and sustainable development: towards the reinforcement of health as a right and universal
freedom. Social studies (Hermosillo, Sonora), 19 (37), 253-279. Retrieved on April 26, 2018, from
http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0188-45572011000100010&lng=es&tlng=es.
stated in Sen (2000: 75), as "a kind of freedom: the fundamental freedom to get
different combinations of performances (or, in less formal terms, the freedom to
achieve different styles of life)".

This ability is strongly conditioned by the economic, political, social, cultural and
environmental surroundings in which it takes place; Therefore, to ensure the
expansion of the capabilities of the human being and an improvement in their quality
of life, the definition of policies must incorporate both individual needs as the
collective potential to the benefit of freedom. Thus for Amartya Sen in his integral
dimension classifies freedoms into two large groups: constitutive and instrumental.

The constituent freedoms are those basic individual freedoms that make up the end
of human development, because they refer to human life. I.e. we are talking about
the potential of the human being. They are that help humans achieve a fulfilling life
with quality; they can include a range of basic capabilities, the avoid basic
deprivations that limit life (hunger, malnutrition and premature or avoidable deaths)
as well as the acquisition of basic social and cultural skills (reading, (writing,
elementary calculus, free expression of ideas and values, direct or indirect
participation in the system of Government of the community). Any program of
human development must ensure the acquisition and expansion of these freedoms

On the contrary, the instrumental freedoms are those opportunities and rights that
contribute directly or indirectly to the general freedom of the people and are offered,
through economic, social and political systems that depend on mainly the basic
constituent freedoms for its realization. These freedoms include economic services,
institutions, social opportunities such as health services, political freedoms,
guarantees of transparency and the social and legal protection. In other words, we
are talking about of the environment constructed by society in a given territory.
Amartya Sen defines it:

“The instrumental role of freedom refers to the way in which contribute

different rights and opportunities to expand the freedom of man in general
and, therefore, to encourage the development. The effectiveness of the
freedom as an instrument lies in the fact that different types of freedom
are interrelated and a kind of freedom can help dramatically increase
others” (Sen, 2000: 56).

And adds another text:

"Options that a person has greatly depend on relationships with others,

and what state and other institutions do. We should be particularly
concerned about these opportunities that are strongly influenced by social
circumstances and public policy"(Sen and Drèze, 2002: 6).
Consequently, it is important to consider in the analysis of development, as well as
the indicator of economic expansion, the impact of democracy, institutions and
freedoms of life and opportunities for individuals to Sen. The recognition of civil
rights, one of the contributions of the democracy, which gives citizens the possibility
of access services that meet their basic needs and to put pressure on an appropriate
public policy. Amartya Sen avoids the narrow definition of development that reduces
it to GDP growth, the increase in income, industrialization and technological
progress, for example. He understands human as determined by other realities
opportunities freedoms, such as the conditions that facilitate the access to health.

The fundamental concern of Sen is that individuals are able to live the kind of life
you want. The essential criterion is the freedom of choice and the overcoming of
obstacles preventing the deployment of freedoms, as, for example, the ability to live
many years, have access to education, deal with a rewarding job, live in an
environment peaceful and safe and enjoy the freedom.

Despite the contrasts, all the approaches can be also seen as complementary; all leave
something valid. Indeed, increased productivity can contribute, and indeed contributes
to obtain things that expand people vital horizon (capabilities) and the possibility to play
with greater freedom in life, to freedom with regard to the natural conditions, the facility
to transfer the results of own work to others.

Income equity also favors the performance of people in society, and, of course, the
satisfaction of basic needs. Absolute poverty or lack of goods indispensable is, as we
have said, a restriction of freedom and this restriction reduces and mediocriza
possible people's performance.

However, it is not just a matter of complementarity. This would be so if the broader

framework will incorporate others and running its most appropriate place, but that
is not the case in practice. Each approach aspires to be the computer of others and
impose their own hierarchy of priorities. There is also, therefore, conflict between
approaches to development.

We tell a new synthesis. The development includes not only the increase of things
produced by human beings with certain dedication to work, also the increase of
opportunities for human action to which every thing can contribute. If the increase in
the number of different things and the produced quantity of each thing associate you
with the term productivity it would search the corresponding terms in the new approach.

In the new perspective, if the objective of the economic and social process is not the
generation of products but of "lives", the criterion of efficiency in terms of
productivity we must add the efficiency in terms of what we might call with too much
ambition" vitality". It is in this case not doing more things; rather we would look for
"get the juice" to things in terms of the richness of life or vitality to which they
contribute.

This can be essential for countries that they have and will have relatively few things in
the future. Generate human beings as full as possible from the point of view of the type
of performance you can have in their society, and also in others, may require amounts
of produced very different things. From this approach, the output of underdevelopment
and not only, as shown in Sen, the reduction of mortality rates can be achieved with
very different products per capita. The metric of the product per capita is limited and
can even be wrong. In this perspective, for example, the ecological damage or resulting
from overfeeding typical of the North, are clear examples of vitality by increasing the
intake reduction.

It is not so easy to design indicators of capacities and performance of individuals and

communities, but it can not prevent the recognition of its importance. In addition,
there are indicators, for example, in the field of the effects of the medicines in the
performance of the people. The problem of development, in that keep it linked to
the subject of the work, would have to wonder about vitality that leads the human
work and not simply on the vitality human labour consuming translating food in
boredom, frustration or e worse n. After all, put things in their proper order, for that
you work, to live.

Development can conceive... as a process of expanding the real freedoms enjoyed

by individuals. The fact that focus attention on human freedoms contrasts with more
stringent visions of development, as their identification with the growth of the gross
national product, with the increase in personal income, industrialization, with the
technological or social modernization progress. Growth of GNP or personal pensions
can certainly be a very important means to expand the freedoms enjoyed by the
members of a society. But freedoms depend also on other determinants, such as
social and economic institutions (for example, education and health care services),
as well as political and human rights (including the freedom to participate in debates
and public scrutiny). (Sen 2000: 19).