1-2-Development-as-Freedom

INTRODUCTIONDEVELOPMENTASFREEDOMAMARTYASENDevelopmentcanbeseen,itisarguedhere,asaprocessofexpandingtherealfreedomsthatpeopleenjoy.Focusingonhumanfreedomscontrastswithnarrowerviewsofdevelopment,suchasidentifyingdevelopmentwiththegrowthofgrossnationalproduct,orwiththeriseinpersonalincomes,orwithindustrialization,orwithtechnologicaladvance,orwithsocialmodernization.GrowthofGNPorofindividualincomescan,ofcourse,beveryimportantasmeanstoexpandingthefreedomsenjoyedbythemembersofthesociety.Butfreedomsdependalsoonotherdeterminants,suchassocialandeconomicarrangements(forexample,facilitiesforeducationandhealthcare)aswellaspoliticalandcivilrights(forexample,thelibertytoparticipateinpublicdiscussionandscrutiny).Similarly,industrializationortechnologicalprogressorsocialmodernizationcansubstantiallycontributetoexpandinghumanfreedom,butfreedomdependsonotherinfluencesaswell.Iffreedomiswhatdevelopmentadvances,thenthereisamajorargumentforconcentratingonthatoverarchingobjective,ratherthanonsomeparticularmeans,orsomespeciallychosenlistofinstruments.Viewingdevelopmentintermsofexpandingsubstantivefreedomsdirectsattentiontotheendsthatmakedevelopmentimportant,ratherthanmerelytosomeofthemeansthat,interalia,playaprominentpartintheprocess.Developmentrequirestheremovalofmajorsourcesofunfreedom:povertyaswellastyranny,pooreconomicopportunitiesaswellassystematicsocialdeprivation,neglectofpublicfacilitiesaswellasintoleranceoroveractivityofrepressivestates.Despiteunprecedentedincreasesinoverallopulence,thecontemporaryworlddenieselementaryfreedomstovastnumbers—perhapseventhemajority—ofpeople.Sometimesthelackofsubstantivefreedomsrelatesdirectlytoeconomicpoverty,whichrobspeopleofthefreedomtosatisfyhunger,ortoachievesufficientnutrition,ortoobtainremediesfortreatableillnesses,ortheopportunitytobeadequatelyclothedorsheltered,ortoenjoycleanwaterorsanitaryfacilities.Inothercases,theunfreedomlinkscloselytothelackofpublicfacilitiesandsocialcare,suchastheabsenceofepidemiologicalprograms,oroforganizedarrangementsforhealthcareoreducationalfacilities,orofeffectiveinstitutionsforthemaintenanceoflocalpeaceandorder.Instillothercases,theviolationoffreedomresultsdirectlyfromadenialofpoliticalandcivillibertiesbyauthoritarianregimesandfromimposedrestrictionsonthefreedomtoparticipateinthesocial,politicalandeconomiclifeofthecommunity.EFFECTIVENESSANDINTERCONNECTIONSFreedomiscentraltotheprocessofdevelopmentfortwodistinctreasons.i)Theevaluativereason:assessmentofprogresshastobedoneprimarilyintermsofwhetherthefreedomsthatpeoplehaveareenhanced;z)Theeffectivenessreason:achievementofdevelopmentisthoroughlydependentonthefreeagencyofpeople.Ihavealreadysignaledthefirstmotivation:theevaluativereasonforconcentratingonfreedom.Inpursuingthesecond,thatofeffectiveness,wehavetolookattherelevantempiricalconnections,inparticularatthemutuallyreinforcingconnectionsbetweenfreedomsofdifferentkinds.Itisbecauseoftheseinterconnections,whichareexploredinsomedetailinthisbook,thatfreeandsustainableagencyemergesasamajorengineofdevelopment.Notonlyisfreeagencyitselfa“constitutive”partofdevelopment,italsocontributestothestrengtheningoffreeagenciesofotherkinds.Theempiricalconnectionsthatareextensivelyexploredinthisstudylinkthetwoaspectsoftheideaof“developmentasfreedom.”Therelationbetweenindividualfreedomandtheachievementofsocialdevelopmentgoeswellbeyondtheconstitutiveconnection—importantasitis.Whatpeoplecanpositivelyachieveisinfluencedbyeconomicopportunities,politicalliberties,socialpowers,andtheenablingconditionsofgoodhealth,basiceducation,andtheencouragementandcultivationofinitiatives.Theinstitutionalarrangementsfortheseopportunitiesarealsoinfluencedbytheexerciseofpeople’sfreedoms,throughthelibertytoparticipateinsocialchoiceandinthemakingofpublicdecisionsthatimpeltheprogressoftheseopportunities.Theseinterconnectionsarealsoinvestigatedhere.SOMEILLUSTRATIONS:POLITICALFREEDOMANDQUALITYOFLIFEThedifferencethatismadebyseeingfreedomastheprincipalendsofdevelopmentcanbeillustratedwithafewsimpleexamples.Eventhoughthefullreachofthisperspectivecanonlyemergefromamuchmoreextensiveanalysis(attemptedinthechapterstofollow),theradicalnatureoftheideaof“developmentasfreedom”caneasilybeillustratedwithsomeelementaryexamples.First,inthecontextofthenarrowerviewsofdevelopmentintermsofGNPgrowthorindustrialization,itisoftenaskedwhethercertainpoliticalorsocialfreedoms,suchasthelibertyofpoliticalparticipationanddissent,oropportunitiestoreceivebasiceducation,areorarenot“conducivetodevelopment.”Inthelightofthemorefoundationalviewofdevelopmentasfreedom,thiswayofposingthequestiontendstomisstheimportantunderstandingthatthesesubstantivefreedoms(thatis,thelibertyofpoliticalparticipationortheopportunitytoreceivebasiceducationorhealthcare)areamongtheconstituentcomponentsofdevelopment.TheirrelevancefordevelopmentdoesnothavetobefreshlyestablishedthroughtheirindirectcontributiontothegrowthofGNPortothepromotionofindustrialization.Asithappens,thesefreedomsandrightsarealsoveryeffectiveincontributingtoeconomicprogress;thisconnectionwillre