Yes / The capability approach (CA), while originally regarded as a ‘thin’ framework relating to an individual’s ‘States’, has been progressively deployed in wider spaces of social welfare and policy development. In general, the CA centralises an individual’s (or group’s) functionings, and the freedom to achieve those functionings. One under-researched area is the expression of capabilities when constraints are imposed hegemonically, that is, when an individual (or group) appears to consent to having their choices limited because of some underlying sociocultural ideology. Hegemonic forces are particularly relevant to the application of the CA against the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs); specifically, reduced inequalities (Goal 10) under its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, since it is generally under large-scale policy regime shifts that sociocultural inequalities are broken and renewed. New, less transparent hegemonies often emerge within policy changes that seek to address inequalities, and they typically embody a mitigating reaction to social risks emanating from policy change. The chapter is fundamentally a theoretical and conceptual paper, approached from an interdisciplinary context, and draws on concepts such as sustainable development, capability approach, and freedom in analysing hegemonic forces with respect to reducing inequalities. / The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 26 Jan 2026.

This thesis focuses upon the surprising connection between two separate bodies of work: the capability approach and Daniel Hausman’s 2015 book Valuing Health: Well-Being, Freedom, and Suffering. Proponents of the capability approach, such as Martha Nussbaum, have argued that the state has an important role to play in promoting well-being. Hausman seems to hold a position quite dissimilar from this, as he argues that standard practices in health economics are seriously flawed because the liberal state should not be promoting well-being. However, I argue that there exists an unexpectedly great degree of similarity between the two positions and suggest that it seems as though Hausman is, in fact, calling for the promotion of well-being. In illuminating conceptual similarities between the two views, I also point to areas where Hausman’s proposals might be strengthened or enhanced by work from CA theorists. This paper provides the foundation for further research to be undertaken exploring how these views might enhance one another.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / Malnutrition is a big public health concern in Malawi. Almost 40% of under-five children in Malawi suffer from malnutrition. Children born to poor mothers with low education levels have higher chances of being malnourished. Great disparities are also seen between children born in rural areas and those born in cities and towns. This research examines the linkages between mothers’ education attainment and child malnutrition. The Capability Approach and the UNICEF Conceptual Framework on child malnutrition was used in ascertaining how education affects mother’s choices and practices on child’s health and nutrition. The Explanatory Sequential Mixed Method Design was used. Combining elements of Qualitative and Quantitative research methods to provide depth and breadth of how mother’s education affects child’s health and nutrition. Findings from the Quantitative analysis of the 2015-2016 Malawi Demographic and Health Surveys data on child malnutrition and women’s education, informed the qualitative approach. The results guided in purposively sampling participants for the Qualitative research. Stata 14 was used to analyse quantitative data. Themes were drawn from the qualitative data and an analysis of the recurring themes was done using Atlas.ti 8. The study found that there is an association between mother’s education and child health. Children born to mothers with secondary and higher education qualification have lower odds of malnutrition and poor health. Inadequate knowledge on nutrition, food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and low welfare status of mothers with low education levels are contributing factors to high incidences of malnutrition among their children. Malawi needs to invest in girl’s education; particularly in rural areas where many girls do not transition to secondary school.

The World Health Organization states that 462 million adults are considered underweight, and malnutrition accounts for almost 50% of deaths for children under the age of 5. Economic, political, and medical consequences of malnutrition are severe for individuals, families, countries, and the world. The objective of this thesis is to develop a causal theory to ending malnutrition. This thesis undertakes a comparative case study analysis of Peru and Brazil to outline what factors led to their success. It synthesizes two bodies of political science literature on social movements and development to argue for the importance of civil society and social welfare policy implementation. It concludes that in democracies, a link between civil society and the state is crucial to implement necessary policies and programs that combat malnutrition. The most important of these policies are related to healthcare, maternal education, child education, and food security.

Managing menstrual hygiene is a problem for many women around the world, especially in developing countries. The lack of access to sanitary products, clean water, knowledge and other necessary resources leads to taboos and health implications, as well as have negative impacts on girls’ education. This thesis investigates if this problem may be improved by the distribution of menstrual cups, by seeking to answer the two following questions; can the usage of the menstrual cup strengthen girls’ participation in education? And; can the usage of the menstrual cup have a positive impact on girls’ possibilities of engaging in social interactions during menstruations? In order to answer these questions, 15 recipients of menstrual cups in Tanzania have been interviewed. The thesis’ point of departure is within the capability approach, to understand if the girls’ capabilities within the spheres of health, education and social interactions have been strengthened or not. With this approach, the thesis can fully explore the girls’ well-being and opportunities, as the theory defines this as the opportunities they have, not only the ones they choose to pursue. The findings show that all interviewed recipients chose to continue to use their menstrual cups as they felt that it improved either their economy, health or gave them increased confidence in school as it lowered the risks of visible leakage. Nearly all girls felt less restricted in school and more able to participate in class, talk and play with classmates regardless of menstruating or not. Furthermore, the thesis concludes that the living conditions of the recipients may have affected the positive result, and that it cannot be ruled out that a similar result would have shown with any other sanitary product used correctly.

The Constitution of India provides the basis of labour jurisprudence in the country. It promises right to work, right to livelihood, right against forced labour, right against child labour, equal treatment of all workers, equal pay for equal work, appropriate conditions at work, and the overall social, economic and political justice to the people. These constitutional promises find specific expression in the numerous labour-related statutes enacted in furtherance of workers’ welfare. However, the constitutional promises remain unrealized for the approximately 92% of informal workers who are largely excluded from the purview of the labour laws and accordingly, lead marginalized and precarious lives devoid of dignity. Against this backdrop, I analyze whether a capabilities-inspired approach to labour law can address the concerns of informal workers in India and promote their dignified life. After reviewing the literature around informal economic activities, I argue that it is important to adopt a worker-centered approach that focuses on informal employment. Informal employment is varied and because of this the problems and concerns associated with the different categories of informal workers differ. For this reason, I focus on one specific category of informal activity – waste-picking – in one city – Kolkata – in order to ascertain whether a human development approach to labour law is capable of addressing the specific concerns of these waste-pickers. Drawing on the work of labour law scholars who develop the capability approach formulated by Amartya Sen, I consider whether it is suitable as a basis for labour law designed for informal workers in general and waste-pickers in particular. Using a case study of the informal activity of waste picking in Kolkata, I identify the specific capability deprivations suffered by waste-pickers and argue that the capabilities approach can supplement the International Labour Organization’s social dialogue pillar of its Decent Work Agenda to address the work-related concerns of waste-pickers. Based on the International Labour Organization’s social dialogue strategy, I envisage a mechanism through which waste-pickers along with other stakeholders could be integrated in a democratic dialogue process leading to the formulation of a capability-promoting labour law. / Graduate / 0510 / 0398 / 0629 / supriyonujs@gmail.com

The study investigates female empowerment through online entrepreneurship on Taobao in Chinese society, from female entrepreneurs’ individual perspectives. Thus, the study is positioned in the dynamic e-commerce landscape of China.   This small-scale case study has been conducted, which involves 14 female online storeowners on Taobao. Online female entrepreneurs constitute the base of this study, and share their accounts of the dramatic changes in their lives after they initiated their online businesses. The entire study departs from their actual experiences and opinions, which provide multiple perspectives, so as to garner further insights into the dominant research of female empowerment within the context of e-commerce. Their actual experiences and accounts are interpreted and examined, based primarily on Sen’s capability approach, while their actual capabilities and functionings are evaluated, based on the selected aspects of their situations.   This study claims that even though the female online storeowners believe they have a higher autonomy in managing their time and household duties, and an ability to act according to their will to achieve what they desire, the female online storeowners still do not regard themselves as entrepreneurs. The enhancements in the capabilities of the female online storeowners and their achieved functionings do not necessarily go beyond the online environment. This study aims to provide a solid departure for any further investigations into women’s empowerment through e-commerce on a societal level.

The technological evolution of the past century has exceeded all expectations and would have been impossible to predict 100 years ago. The same might be true of trying to predict the outcome of today’s technological developments that are still in their early stages. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a popular subject for predictions; experts are both pessimistic and optimistic about the outcome of AI development. There is a possibility that AI in the course of things becomes fully integrated into our everyday lives and ends up being a fundamental part of human civilization. This thesis examines a set of problems that arise in certain possible future AI scenarios. If an AI reaches superintelligence, it is reasonable to suggest that potentially it would have the possibility to improve our society in many ways.  This essay considers what impact a particular range of kinds of AI intervention would have on human well-being. There is no philosophical consensus on the right account of well-being, and that limits the scope and force of this study. In that sense, it should be seen as a point of departure for future research on how different accounts of well-being cash out in the AI scenarios under consideration. The approach taken here is mainly to focus on what happens in the AI scenario with theories of well-being that have achievement as a basic and fundamental component. The central discussion in sections 3-4 concerns that. I give a cursory overview of other influential accounts of well-being in section 2, in order to explain why achievement-including views are taken seriously.

Problem Statement: South Africa is currently facing a challenge of youth unemployment. The hardest hit are those from low income communities, as they in addition have limited access to information. The Internet has proven to be one of the ways in which recruitment is done and failure to access reduces the opportunities. The purpose of the research: The main objective of this study was to understand how the youth living in the townships use the Internet to seek for employment. The purpose of this study is to assess how the Internet use affect the youth when searching for employment. Design/methodology/ approach: An interpretivist approach was employed to understand how the youth seek employment. This study used a qualitative approach to collect the data. Interviews were done using semi-structured questions. Alampay (2006) Capability Approach (CA) was used as a guide to conceptualise how the youth from low-income communities use the Internet to find employment. Borrowing from the four main constructs (conversion factors, freedom, capabilities and functionings) employed by Alampay (2006) in his model, this study operationalised the Alampay (2006) CA model by adding the ICT commodities as the fifth construct. The CA was chosen as an appropriate framework for this study because the framework focuses on what humans are able to do and achieve when presented with the available ICT resources. Findings: The findings demonstrate that the lack of resources, income, information and digital skills affected the individual capabilities to effectively use the Internet when seeking employment. The success rate in finding a job using the Internet was low among job seekers. Commodities, individual differences, social and environmental factors affected how the youth (18-34 years) from low-income communities use the Internet to find employment. In addition, crime, poor network coverage, expensive data bundles and limited access to ICT resources were among the key factors that contributed to limited use of the Internet among job seekers. Research Contribution: This study seeks to close the gap in limited knowledge available in developing countries with regards to the use of the Internet among job seekers. Therefore, based on the study findings, this thesis has contributed towards adding value to the body of knowledge within the field of Information Systems. In addition, the findings can contribute towards assisting policy makers in solving challenges faced by the unemployment youth in developing countries when using technology to find employment.

No / In this paper, a framework is developed to consider collective action, sustainability and the capability approach with regard to resolution of water disputes, followed by a brief discussion of how identity can hinder cooperation or the development of universalism. This framework is then examined with a case study of the Cauvery river dispute in India. At the heart of river water disputes are issues related to justice and fairness, which depend to a significant extent on: how citizens perceive their claims over river water (shaped by cultural and historical factors); the extent to which citizens are able to collectivize their claims through location, economic activity and identity, and use their voice to influence the state; the extent to which the state policy and actions reflect the 'voice' and collective interests of different groups; and how the various riparian states recognize and deal with each others' claims. The framework discussed here suggests that the capability approach provides us with a much broader framework than collective action or Robert Solow's sustainability as inter-generational fairness. These are conjectures for further exploration.