Over the last few years, the town of La Oroya, in Perú’s central Andes has received significant international attention due to the alarming number of children suffering from high levels of lead poisoning as a result of pollution from the town’s smelter. Paradoxically, instead of collectively unifying voices to claim the protection of their health and environment, a significant portion of members of this community opted to minimize the problem with the purpose of defending job opportunities at the smelter.This dissertation examines the deep structural causes that have placed residents of this community in the difficult position of having to sacrifice their human right to health in order to preserve their right to work at the smelter. I argue that the La Oroya community acquiesced in forfeiting their own rights because they have been historically trapped in a “context of systemic unfreedom.” This is a historically formed and politically and economically reproduced context of human rights abuses, a context that affects the overall well-being of individuals and communities, and diminishes their ability to challenge such abuses and transform their realities. To assess the exact contours and components of the context of systemic unfreedom in La Oroya, and respond to the question of how this context has encouraged the trade-offs of health for work, I have designed a “capability-oriented model of human rights.” Conceptually, this model builds upon structural approaches to human rights proposed by authors such as Paul Farmer, Tony Evans and Mark Goodale. It also adopts Séverine Deneuline’s relational-political interpretation of the capability approach pioneered by Amartya Sen. Methodologically, a salient feature of my model is its incorporation of voices of affected community members as an important source of knowledge. Results of this study show the extent to which the context of systemic unfreedom in La Oroya has been sustained by the interconnection of a constellation of factors: environmental (historical pollution); institutional (economic dependency, the state’s leniency in enforcing the smelter company’s environmental obligations, the extraction-based model of economic development in Perú, the institutional fragility of the human rights discourse); social (migration, loss of collective identity, socio-economic and gender inequalities, uncertainty about pollution, limited access to information, assignment of responsibility for pollution-based illness to individuals, stigma against the poor); and personal (individual values and needs, characteristics of individual identity). These factors have converged over time and intersected at the macro, meso and micro levels, trapping residents from La Oroya in a vicious cycle of disadvantage. I conclude by suggesting that, in order to effectively address “systemic unfreedom” in this smelter town, both short-term and long-term solutions are required. That is, in addition to promoting the completion of proposed environmental mitigation and soil remediation plans in La Oroya, I offer suggestions towards reversing entrenched socio-economic and gender inequalities and reconstituting a collective community identity. Fundamentally, the ultimate goal of structural transformation in La Oroya requires addressing current patterns of power, economic dependency, and domination, thus fostering changes in the state’s vision of development. / Graduate / 2016-04-30

This is an inter-disciplinary argument for a moral entitlement to a capability to be healthy. Motivated by the goal to make a human right to health intelligible and justifiable, the thesis extends the capability approach, advocated by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, to the theory and practice of the human health sciences. Moral claims related to human health are considered at the level of ethical theory, or a level of abstraction where principles of social justice that determine the purpose, form, and scope of basic social institutions are proposed, evaluated, and justified. The argument includes 1) a conception of health as capability, 2) a theory of causation and distribution of health capability as well as 3) an argument for the moral entitlement to a sufficient and equitable capability to be healthy grounded in the respect for human dignity. Moreover, the entitlement to the capability to be healthy is defended against alternative ethical approaches that focus on welfare or resources in evaluating and satisfying health claims. In specific, it is argued that human health is best understood as a capability to be healthy - a meta-capability to achieve a cluster of basic and inter-related capabilities and functionings. Such a cluster of capabilities and functionings is in line with Martha Nussbaum's central human capabilities. A theory of causation and distribution of health capability is put forward that integrates the 'classic' biomedical factors of disease (genetic endowment, exposure to hazardous materials, behaviour), social determinants of disease, and Drèze and Sen's econometric analysis of the causation and distribution of acute and endemic malnutrition. Furthermore, the argument critiques Norman Daniels's revised Rawlsian theory of health justice, and advocates for the capability approach to recognize group capabilities in light of 'population health' phenomena. Lastly, the thesis also argues that a coherent, capability conception of health as a species-wide conception will tend to make any theory of justice recognizing health claims a cosmopolitan theory of justice.

Electronic learning (e-learning) has recently introduced by the Saudi government to expand educational opportunities at higher education level, especially for women. However, due to the status of women in Saudi society, understanding the ability of women to take advantage of such technology rather than just making it available to them is required and should not be ignored. In this regard, this study aims to illuminate the ability of Saudi women to convert the opportunity offered by e-learning into a valuable educational achievement, by identifying the factors that affect their ability and the dimensions that characterise their capability requirements. To achieve this, the study adopts the capability approach as a guiding theoretical framework to provide a strong foundation and address the developmental theoretical insights as well as to demonstrate the ability of Saudi women to access and use e-learning freely in order to achieve their higher educational goals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from twenty-four women living in the Najran and Northern Border regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using a proxy interview approach. Alkire’s and Robeyns’ techniques, with the support of the Straussian grounded theory procedures, were used to analyse the data collected. The study finds that the ability of Saudi women to convert the opportunity offered by e-learning into a valuable educational achievement is limited and affected by four factors: tribal society culture, cultural use of the internet, family willingness and government stimulation factors. It also identifies thirty-four dimensions that empower or prevent Saudi women’s freedom to access and use e-learning efficiently as a means to attain a valuable educational outcome. The value of the capability approach to inform an analysis on Saudi women's access to e-learning as well as the usefulness of applying the grounded theory to support the capability approach in the process of selecting the valuable dimensions for Saudi women to access e-learning, were also found. The study concludes that e-learning could probably be a bridge to enable women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to access higher education. However, the issue is not just about technical availability, it is also about the capability of women to benefit from such a technology. Therefore, it is not enough to provide Saudi women with an opportunity to complete their higher education via e-learning without giving them the power to access and use it freely, whenever they are able to and want to do so. The study contributes by helping to open the window in front of women so they can make their voices heard and draw the attention of the government on the dimensions that characterise their capability requirements to access and use e-learning freely, as well as to give a better understanding about their situation within Saudi society and its role in affecting their ability. It also introduces a distinctive analytical framework to combine practical and theoretical strands in order to develop practical capability approach dimensions.

Disaster vulnerability and health status are determined by the intersecting social identities individuals possess in a given context. Based on two months fieldwork in Bangladesh, this study employs a comparative exploratory case study methodology to understand the way in which the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Oxfam and Gonoshasthaya Kendra construct and deploy the concepts of gender, empowerment and women’s health within their disaster management policies and programs. It finds that disaster management interventions that fail to understand the intersectional nature of women’s vulnerability risk entrenching or creating forms of both privilege and oppression. Combining intersectionality, Moser’s Practical and Strategic Gender Needs and Sen’s Capability Approach, this study aims to deconstruct the embedded view of women in disaster management by suggesting that a social determinants of health approach, paired with intersectionality, could provide important insights into disaster management interventions and their effectiveness in addressing the gendered realities of women facing disasters.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo examinar a formação do senso de justiça das pessoas sob a perspectiva da teoria de justiça da escolha social e de rankings incompletos, de Amartya Sen (2009). Pretende também investigar algumas formas de educar o cidadão para a justiça a fim de se pensar políticas públicas nas escolas que estimulem o florescimento do sentido de justiça nas pessoas. Para tanto, a teoria de justiça de Sen (2009) é apresentada e relacionada a teorias sobre a formação do indivíduo e fases críticas de seu desenvolvimento, em específico a formação de aspectos cognitivos e não cognitivos e sua interação. Ao fim, são indicados caminhos para a educação voltada para a justiça. / This study aims to examine the development of the sense of justice following Amartya Sen’s (2009) social choice and incomplete rank justice theory. Alongside this, in order to present some alternatives about public policies in schools that could encourage the flourishing of a sense of justice, a reflection about ways to educate citizens towards justice is made. To do so, Sen’s Idea of Justice is introduced and related to theories about individual development, combined with an analysis of sensitive stages of human development. Particular attention is given on the interaction of cognitive and non-cognitive abilities. At the end, some thoughts about public policies and the education system are made.

Previous studies by Cornforth (2003, 2004), Cornelius et al. (2008), Cornelius and Wallace (2010), and Wallace and Cornelius (2010) highlight the need for further research in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for social enterprises and how their governance systems facilitate social outcomes when aligned to organisational mission. Against this backdrop, the main aim of this study is: to investigate the extent to which social enterprises (not-for-profit social providers) pursue ethical practices and social policies underpinned by their CSR agendas that enhance their stakeholders’ capabilities. The conceptual framework for the study is built on Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach (Sen 1991, 1999). Primary data were collected from face-to-face, in-depth, semi structured interviews with twelve owner-managers of small social enterprises from Bradford, UK. These were designed to understand their enterprise’s ethical views towards the development of deprived communities and the role this has in formulating their enterprise’s CSR agenda. The interview data were transcribed and analysed using constructivist grounded theory. The findings suggest that external CSR provision is often prompted as an immediate reaction to problematic issues arising in society. In general, it consequently lacks sustainability and is insufficiently evaluated for long term social impact. It is therefore argued that the CSR agenda for social enterprises should be based more on the organisation’s social ethos than the current process. Moreover, the findings emphasise the importance of social strategy emanating from governance mechanisms as this was identified as critical for the implementation of the CSR agenda so that social value is created in a structured and planned manner. These findings make a contribution to knowledge by providing conceptual and empirical insights regarding the consequences of social enterprises incorporating capabilities into their CSR policies and practices, and its social impact. Moreover, a conceptual model is developed that reflects the strategic importance of such a convergence in achieving this dual purpose.

Female Genital Mutilation is a cultural and historical practice engrained in the African Culture.This practice is part of the African Rite of Passage; where a young girl passes on from being achild into being a grown woman. According to Martha Nussbaums’s Capability Approach thispractice undermines the woman and violates her rights as a human being, on the other handMelville Herskovits’ Cultural Relativist theory encourages acceptance and respect of the variouscultures and their beliefs; thus making female genital mutilation a cultural tradition that shouldbe respected like any other tradition around the world.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:48:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marianna Percinio Moreira Bomfim.pdf: 968431 bytes, checksum: 6d2c5a7a517580ddae8f4ea086db80c4 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-16 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This dissertation aims to introduce the components of the economic theory of well-being proposed by Sen, called capability approach, and to discuss its influence on the human development index (HDI) - an indicator of well being presented in the annual reports of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).To that effect, firstly the methodological path done by Sen in the elaboration of his approach is presented. To do so, the author retake the thoughts of Adam Smith, analyses the economic theory of well-being and its utilitarian foundations and uses concepts present on Kenneth Arrow s and John Rawls works. Then, the reviews made regard the income and GDP when used as indicators of human development are listed, backing the creation of HDI as an alternative to a less restrictive measure. Besides the concept of human development that supports the indicator, it is presented: the calculation process developed from 1990, some criticisms and suggestions suffered in the last twenty years and the construction of a new HDI in 2010.In conclusion, we discuss the influence of Sen s approach in the UNDP indicator, beyond the limitations of the analyzes of well-being, given that existing tools can not capture all dimensions of human development presented in the theory, inferring that, regard the great progress made on the human condition evaluation due to today, it is still necessary theoretical and technical improvement for a broader understanding of people s well-being / O objetivo desta dissertação é apresentar os elementos constitutivos da teoria econômica do bem-estar proposta por Sen, denominada capability approach, e discutir sua possível influência no índice de desenvolvimento humano (IDH), indicador de bem-estar social apresentado nos relatórios anuais do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento (PNUD). Com esse objetivo, apresenta-se inicialmente o percurso metodológico feito por Sen para construção de sua abordagem. Para tanto, o autor retoma o pensamento de Adam Smith, analisa a Teoria Econômica do Bem-estar e seus alicerces utilitaristas, e se utiliza de conceitos presentes nos trabalhos de Kenneth Arrow e John Rawls. Em seguida, parte das críticas feitas à renda e ao PIB quando utilizados como indicadores do desenvolvimento humano são elencadas, respaldando a criação do IDH como forma alternativa a uma mensuração menos restrita. Além do conceito de desenvolvimento humano que suporta o indicador, são apresentados: o processo de cálculo inicial, parte das críticas e sugestões sofridas nos últimos vinte anos, e a construção de um novo IDH, em 2010. À guisa de conclusão, é discutida a influência da abordagem seniana no indicador do PNUD, além das limitações das análises de bem-estar, dado que as ferramentas existentes não conseguem captar todas as dimensões do desenvolvimento humano apresentadas na teoria, inferindo-se que apesar do grande progresso na avaliação da condição humana feito até o momento, se faz ainda necessário aprimoramento teórico e grande melhoria técnica para uma compreensão mais ampla do bem-estar das pessoas

Insourcing, outsourcing and co-sourcing are three approaches to procuring an information system. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on insourcing an information system; exploring and discussing the enabling and inhibiting factors of the insourcing of an information system in selected government agencies in Malaysia. This study was undertaken in response to a paucity of similar projects and a limited literature focused on developing countries. It considers the post outsourcing context following the decision to insource a major Malaysian Government Information System in 2011. A qualitative research method was used to obtain empirical evidence from selected government agencies through 69 semi-structured interviews in two data collection periods: 2013-2014 and 2015. Interviews were conducted with civil servants at all levels, from senior management to clerical staff, including users of the government information system. By using coding principles from grounded theory to analyse the data, seven exciters and six inhibitors of insourcing a government information system were identified and mapped in the analytical framework. Further, this is the first research to use an enhanced model, devised by combining the OPTIMISM model and two distinct theoretical traditions: institutional theory and the capability approach; in order to analyse the insourcing of government information system adoption. The enhanced model was created by mapping the OPTIMISM model (that has a set of dimensions) to an analytical framework comprising the capability approach, institutional theory and technology (ICTs). The main research contribution of this thesis is in the area of capacity building of the internal development team. The increased budget for training, the selection of appropriate training providers and knowledge sharing among experienced and novice developers all contribute to building capacity in the internal development team; and consequently help to improve the quality of the system which will improve service delivery to the general public. The approach and findings of this study contribute to the body of knowledge and understanding of the subject in government information system development and implementation, and can also be applied to improving the quality of service delivery. While this study has focused on government information systems, the wider area of eGovernment, and applications serving the needs of the general public, is equally important, and therefore the researcher suggests that insourcing eGovernment applications would also assist in the capacity building of internal IT staff.

A Abordagem das Capacitações, de Amartya Kumar Sen, é uma teoria da justiça social que reconhece no processo de desenvolvimento a expansão das liberdades, ocasionando a eliminação de privações, as quais limitam as escolhas das pessoas para exercerem sua condição de agente. As capacidades (capabilities) para atingir o bem-estar é que precisam ser igualadas e expandidas. As oportunidades, devem ser proporcionadas com base na justiça social como equidade. Pela diversidade própria do ser humano em relação a características pessoais e externas, oportunidades sociais podem requerer ação pública de modo a atender essas especificidades, para que os indivíduos possam realizar funcionamentos (estados e ações de uma pessoa). Para combater essas desigualdades, políticas de redistribuição e reconhecimento são fundamentais, sobretudo, no meio rural em relação ao sistema educacional. Apesar da educação ser um direito previsto constitucionalmente, o histórico da educação rural é de precarização. Com o surgimento da luta em prol da Educação do Campo, é criado em 1998, como resposta às reivindicações dos movimentos sociais, o Programa Nacional de Educação na Reforma Agrária - Pronera. Anteriores a este programa, já existiam práticas pedagógicas do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra – MST, dentre as quais destacava-se o Curso Técnico em Cooperativismo – TAC. Esta dissertação pretendeu investigar se o curso Técnico em Cooperativismo – TAC, realizado pelo Programa Nacional de Educação na Reforma Agrária – Pronera no Rio Grande do Sul, interfere na realização de funcionamentos e expansão das capacitações de seus egressos. Durante a pesquisa exploratória, foi realizada uma imersão no cotidiano do Instituto Técnico de Capacitação e Reforma Agrária – Iterra. Além disso, foram gerados dados quantitativos, com os quais foi possível traçar o perfil das turmas do TAC, através da estatística descritiva. Foram realizadas entrevistas com egressos de seis estados brasileiros e com representantes da Concrab e Coceargs, entidades responsáveis pelo TAC em nível nacional e estadual, respectivamente. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram alcançados, sendo concluído que o TAC tem contribuído para a expansão das capacitações e funcionamentos de seus egressos, com repercussões no desenvolvimento dos assentamentos, sendo que os resultados permitiram conhecer muito além das variáveis de análise propostas inicialmente. / The Capability Approach, by Amartya Kumar Sen, is a social justice theory that acknowledges the expansion of freedoms in the development process, which results in the elimination of deprivations, a limiter of people’s choice to exercise their agency. The capabilities, or opportunities, to achieve well-being is what needs to reach equality and expanded. The opportunities should be provided on basis of social justice as equity. Due to the humanity diversity, regarding personal and external characteristics, social opportunities might require public action in order to meet those peculiarities, so that individuals can perform functionings (states and actions of a person). In order to fight off these inequalities, policies of redistribution and acknowledgement are fundamental, especially in the countryside, concerning the education system. Even though education is a constitutional right, the history of rural education shows a state of precariousness. With the arrival of movements fighting for Rural Education, the National Program of Education in the Agrarian Reform – Pronera, was created in 1998, as a response to the social movement requests. Before this program, there were already pedagogical practices of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), amongst which the Cooperative Technical Course (TAC) is highlighted. This essay intends to investigate if the Cooperative Technical Course – TAC, created by the National Program of Education in Agrarian Reform – Pronera in Rio Grande do Sul, affects the functionings and expansion of capabilities of its egress students. During this exploratory research, there was an immersion in the daily activities of the Technical Institute of Capacitation and Agrarian Reform – Iterra. Also, quantitative data was generated, which allowed the profiling of the classes in TAC, through Descriptive Statistics. Interviews with former students from six states and with representatives of Concrab and Coceargs were conducted, two entities responsible for TAC in national and state level, respectively. The objectives of this study were achieved, with the conclusion that TAC has significantly contributed to the expansion of capabilities and functionings of their egress students, with impacts over settlements development. The results also enabled us to gather much more knowledge than the initial variables proposed.