The Capability Approach was initially developed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, with the first basic articulation presented in his 1979 ‘Equality of What?’ Tanner Lecture. Since then, the approach has gained a huge amount of attention as a conceptual framework which offers a clear and insightful way to measure well-being and development. Most recently, the approach has been refined and extended by Martha Nussbaum to issues of disability, nationality, and species membership in political philosophy. This project is about the foundations of the capability approach. More specifically, this project asks whether we can, and whether there are good reasons to, strengthen those foundations. The conclusions drawn here are that we ought to think seriously about the way that the capability approach develops as a theory that responds to real world challenges and change. More importantly, this project contends – in light of the challenges of future people and indigenous peoples – that there is good reason to think of new ways to ground the approach. This project takes up this challenge and grounds the approach in a modified version of Tim Mulgan’s approach to well-being. This project demonstrates that this alternative enriches the capability approach by providing us with a way of making sense of important problems, and with options for moving forward. Overall, this project asks important questions about how the capability approach could evolve based on challenges that remain relatively under-explored in the current literature. This project contributes to this literature by demonstrating that we can and ought to strengthen the capability approach and its ability to understand, take on board, and resolve these challenges.

Foundation provisioning has a long history in South Africa, and is central to the transformation agenda, particularly the broadening of successful participation in higher education (HE). As access initiatives underpinned by various conceptualisations, foundation programmes evolved from peripheral, to semi-integrated and finally fully integrated curricular models in the form of current Extended Studies Programmes (ESPs). Underpinning the provision of Extended Studies is the acknowledgment that students who enter institutions are essentially ill equipped to cope with the demands of higher education studies, “leaving institutions themselves free of the responsibility of student failure” (Akoojee & Nkomo, 2007:391). This under-preparedness has been attributed to the ‘articulation gap’ between secondary and higher education, which in turn contributes to low retention and graduation rates (CHE, 2013:17). Situated within an overarching commitment to access and success, the Extended Studies Programme attempts to systematically address the ‘articulation gap’. This study evaluated the extent to which the Rhodes University Humanities Extended Studies Programme is achieving its objectives from a transformation perspective, specifically the broadening of successful participation in higher education. The majority of previous works on the evaluation of foundation programmes focused on measurable dimensions of student access and success – that is retention and graduation rates. This thesis considered both the measurable outcomes of the programme as well as the actual teaching and learning process. Given the shifts that have taken place in foundation provisioning, the evaluation of the current model of foundation provisioning necessitated their location in history. Therefore, the evaluation of the Rhodes University Humanities Extended Studies Programme was undertaken in view of the shifts, achievements, challenges and critics of its predecessor programmes. Specifically, the following dimensions were considered in the evaluation of the programme: i) assumptions underpinning the design and purpose of the programme, ii) teaching and learning practices in the programme, iii) student and staff perceptions of the programme, iv) students’ experiences of the programme, v) the validity of the programme in the broader institution, and vi) the measurable outcomes of the programme − that is retention and graduation rates of students enrolled in the programme. The triangulation of qualitative data collection techniques provided access into the different layers of institutional relations, processes and structures, which not only affect teaching and learning in the programme, but also determine students’ engagement with different academic and social aspects of the broader university. The theoretical insights of Pierre Bourdieu and Amartya Sen were integrated in order to provide analytical tools for both understanding the causes of inequalities in higher education, and evaluating institutional processes and structures that perpetuate or transform inequalities. Whilst Bourdieu’s social reproduction thesis exposed the ways in which social structures shape educational processes and outcomes, Sen’s capability approach provided tools for evaluating both institutional arrangements and individual capabilities – that is, the freedom to achieve desired educational outcomes (Sen, 1992:48).

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:48:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Joao Machado.pdf: 1026778 bytes, checksum: b1c039965d53105cabf829766eb35289 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-05-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this study is to assess the task performed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations main body for development issues, in Brazil. The method of research consists of bibliographical research, followed by a case study, in order to strengthen the theme s empirical investigation. The case study analyzed is the project BNDES/PNUD for Local Development (BRA/00/031) in the Península de Itapagipe , Salvador, Bahia. The first conclusion of this work is that the choice of the capabilities approach, developed by Amartya Sen, is convenient for the pragmatic and consensual nature of the Programme, given that it proposes a stronger focus on the expansion of individual choices without questioning the current international economic order. Therefore, it allows the maintenance of the support of not only countries which act as core resource suppliers, but also of countries where UNDP implements its interventions. Furthermore, the sustainable human development is a concept broad enough to let different interventions be classified under this one paradigm. Regarding the specific role of the UNDP in Brazil, it is clear that the nature of its approach is the government cost-sharing/national execution. This modality was first employed in a particular context, under special circumstances, which took under consideration the interests of both Brazilian government and the UNDP. It is possible to reach the conclusion that the Programme´s action in Brazil is more linked to performing the duties of a support structure, in order to have the projects fully and effectively implemented, than to furnish content and theoretical aspects to the interventions supported by the Programme. In sum, the UNDP´s action is limited by the lack of success in translating its innovative theoretical concepts and ideas into practical projects. Being successful on this task could imply an enrichment of the projects and also create a clear framework which characterizes the projects supported by the UNDP / O objetivo desse trabalho é entender como o Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD), principal órgão das Nações Unidas para a questão do desenvolvimento, atua no Brasil. O procedimento de pesquisa utilizado é a pesquisa bibliográfica. Um estudo de caso é também realizado como forma de aprofundar a investigação empírica do tema. O estudo de caso analisado é o projeto BNDES/PNUD de Desenvolvimento Local (BRA/00/031), na Península de Itapagipe em Salvador (BA). A primeira conclusão deste trabalho é que a escolha da abordagem das capacidades de Amartya Sen é conveniente à natureza pragmática e consensual do Programa, porque propõe um foco na expansão das escolhas individuais das pessoas, mas sem questionar a ordem econômica internacional vigente. Dessa forma, permite a manutenção do apoio tanto de países doadores de recursos regulares como dos países nos quais o PNUD mantém atividades. Além disso, o desenvolvimento humano sustentável é muito amplo, e isso permite que intervenções nas mais diferentes áreas sejam classificadas como relacionadas a este paradigma. Em relação à atuação específica do PNUD no Brasil, está claro que a modalidade de cooperação utilizada majoritariamente é a execução nacional/financiamento pelo governo. Essa modalidade passou a ser utilizada em um contexto específico, que atendia interesses tanto do governo brasileiro quanto do PNUD. Pode-se concluir que a atuação do Programa no Brasil passa muito mais por servir como uma estrutura de apoio para que os projetos sejam implementados do que por realizar aportes teóricos e de conteúdo às intervenções apoiadas pelo Programa. Portanto, a atuação do PNUD é limitada pelo fato de não conseguir traduzir as idéias e os conceitos inovadores criados no seu âmbito para os seus projetos. Ter sucesso nessa questão poderia representar um enriquecimento dos projetos, bem como criar uma delimitação clara que caracterize os projetos apoiados pelo PNUD

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:48:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruno Beltrame.pdf: 550537 bytes, checksum: dd98c2c17868e3f8b2d425a2f8ed1be8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-05-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The aim of this dissertation is to inquire in what sense it is reasonable to locate in Kenneth Arrow s social choice theory and in John Rawls theory of justice the two main theoretical roots of Amartya Sen s capability approach. It will be argued that Arrow s social choice theory had the role of revealing the main deficiencies of the welfare economics theory. Thus, Arrow s analysis points the limitations to be fulfilled in order to arrive at satisfactory theory of social choice indicating, in this sense, the paths to be pursued. In the same manner, it is argued that Ralws theory of justice provided important elements that inspirated certain ethical positions present in Amartya Sen s thought, which appear in his approach to the problem of social choice. To conclude, the main features of the capability approach that can be directly associated with these two theoretical origins are exposed, and it is argued that Sen s theory simultaneously solves the deficiencies pointed by him in the theoretical structure of Arrow s social choice and embodies, even though in a modified way, elements of Rawls thought / O objetivo dessa dissertação é investigar em que sentido é pertinente localizar na teoria da escolha social de Kenneth Arrow e na teoria da justiça de John Rawls as duas principais raízes teóricas da abordagem das capacidades de Amartya Sen. Argumentar-se-á que a teoria da escolha social de Arrow cumpriu o papel de explicitar as deficiências da teoria econômica do bem-estar. Desse modo, as análises de Arrow apontam as limitações a serem superadas para se chegar a uma teoria satisfatória da escolha social indicando em certa medida rumos a serem seguidos. Da mesma maneira argumenta-se que a teoria da justiça de Rawls forneceu elementos importantes que inspiraram certos posicionamentos éticos evidentes no pensamento de Amartya Sen e que se refletem em suas análises da escolha social. Por fim são apresentadas as principais características da abordagem das capacidades que podem ser diretamente associados a estas duas origens teóricas, e será argumentado que a teoria de Sen ao mesmo tempo soluciona as deficiências apontadas por ele na estrutura teórica da escolha social de Arrow e incorpora, ainda que de forma modificada, elementos presentes no pensamento de Rawls