Theorising Development
UNIT 7 HUMAN AND SOCIAL
PERSPECTIVE*
Structure
7.0 Objectives
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Human Development
7.3 Social Perspective on Human Development
7.4 Capability Approach to Development
7.5 Development as Freedom
7.6 Process of Human Development
7.7 Ideas Connected with Human Development Perspective
7.8 Let Us Sum Up
7.9 Key Words
7.10 Further Reading
7.11 Specimen Answers to Check Your Progress
7.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this unit, you will be able to:
Understand the meaning of the concept of development;
Explain the influence of social development on human development;
Discuss the theoretical basis of the human development approach;
Analyse the capability approach to human development; and
Describe the core concepts of the human development perspective as
freedom, agency and capability.
7.1 INTRODUCTION
In this unit we will discuss human and social development perspective. Before
that let us discuss different meanings of the word development. For some
development can signify a change in positive direction in peoples’ lives as an
increase in income or betterment of individual well-being. But there are still
others who believe that there is need to expose the different definitions of
development as it has not reduced the inequalities between the different nations.
There are certain ethics of development. Development implies an improvement
in individuals’ lives. It is the definitions of development that influence the policies
on development. The value judgements underlying the policy influences
development. There is no acknowledgement of these value judgements. For
instance economic development aims to increase the wealth or national income
in a society. Human Development is essentially concerned about the improvement
of well-being of persons in a society (Alkire and Deneulin 2009: 3). The values
* Written by Dr. Charu Sahawny, Independent Researcher
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that influence the policy makers need to be explored. It is the definitions of Human and Social
Perspective
concepts of development held by the policy makers that determine the outcomes
of development. The outcomes of policies on poverty will be different depending
on how poverty gets defined by the policy makers. For instance if poverty is
defined on the basis of the income of individuals or on the basis of the inability
to fulfil the basic needs of individuals will have different outcomes. Therefore,
the value judgements of the governments and agencies devising development
policies need to be explored. There can also be uncertainties and trade-offs in
development policy making. For instance should governments invest in mining
for higher income and job creation or should the governments tackle the problem
of ecological degradation are objectives that the development agencies have to
frequently trade off. Therefore, policy making depends on the normative
frameworks that we hold.
Development was dominantly defined in terms of economic criteria as national
per capita income. Economists like Amartya Sen, Martha Nussbaum, Mahbubul-
Haq have emphasized that development should lead to the betterment of the
quality of life of people and also enlarge their capabilities and choices. The
normative framework underlying this thinking of human development is that
economic growth is required but it should go hand in hand with the advances in
health and education. The Pakistani economist Mahbubul- Haq and Indian
economist Amartya Sen together worked to develop the Human Development
Index (HDI). HDI stressed that people and their capabilities should be the basis
of assessing development of a country. According to UNDP, “The Human
Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key
dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, being knowledgeable
and have a decent standard of living”.
7.2 HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Now let us discuss the distinctiveness of human development approach. If an
approach to development focuses on the economic growth then the unit of analysis
is the economy and market prices play an important role in policy making linked
to development. In the human development approach the focus is on the person
and the economy is just one of the aspects that help people lead a healthy life,
pursue education and jobs and increase their well-being. The human development
approach thus puts people first and focuses on their freedoms and capability.
However, both these approaches to development are not exclusionary but they
overlap. The development approach that focuses on economic growth is also
concerned with improving the richness of life of persons. Conversely the human
development approach that focuses on improving people’s lives is also concerned
with sustained economic growth (Alkire and Deneulin 2009:23). Human
development approach is multi sectoral as it deals with many aspects of people’s
lives ranging from economy, culture, politics, health and education.
It was in 1990 that United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) introduced
a new approach to advance human well-being known as human development
approach. This idea of ‘human development’ was present in Human Development
Report produced by UNDP. In addition to the UNDP report the different countries
also produced their National and Regional Human Development Reports. These
reports evaluated the quality of life of a population and proposed ways for its
improvement. This approach instead of only focussing only on the economic
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Theorising Development aspects of growth brings to centre stage the opportunities and the choices that
are available to people (Alkire and Deneulin 2009:24). The first Human
Development Report 1990 conceptualized human development as ‘both the
process of widening people’s choices and the level of their achieved well- being’
(UNDP, 1990, p9). The various human development reports have raised awareness
about human concerns as education, importance of people’s participation in the
democracy, health and the environment.
The Human Development Reports were influenced by the viewpoints of the
Pakistani economist Mahbubul Haq. He argued that a country may have high
GDP because it sells weapons and exports them but this criterion does not
determine whether the country is more developed than others. According to him,
people matter and income is also important for people to enhance their capabilities.
Income is only one of the aspects in terms of which development of a country is
assessed. The other aspects of the society as health and education are also
important (Alkire and Deneulin 2009: 24). For instance during the outbreak of
the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 the major concern of all the countries of the
World was the availability of hospital infrastructure as beds and ventilators to
treat the COVID 19 patients. The availability of healthcare facilities and services
was an asset in dealing with the health crisis. This proved that healthcare facilities
can be more significant than national income.
7.3 SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE ON HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
Social development influences human development as social institutions deeply
impinge on individuals to exercise their capabilities. Khalid Malik (2014) in his
lecture ‘Advancing, Sustaining Human Progress: From Concepts to Policies’
stated that social institutions influence the behaviour and choices people make
as social institutions influence individual capability. Social institutions are the
non-profit making institutions and non-state institutions like the Non-
Governmental Organizations, neighbourhood associations and sports clubs. These
social institutions influence and are influenced by both state and market. The
2014 Human Development Report (UNDP) laid stress on the role of civil society
and social institutions in articulating the issues concerning the citizens and
reinforcing government policy.
When we speak of social development we need to address human rights issues
as well-being, education or health that affect society. Therefore social development
is also the widening of social opportunities enjoyed by people. The social and
the economic complement each other. Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen (1997:6) in
their work ‘India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity’ argued that
individuals and their opportunities are to be viewed in a social context. The state
and different institutions in society impinge on persons’ opportunities. For instance
the opportunities available to a person in a caste society are different from the
opportunities that may be available to a person in an egalitarian society.
Also social circumstances and public policy influences social opportunity. To
illustrate this, we can view the impact of state policy during COVID 19 on the
Indian farmers. The nationwide lockdown implemented by India in the health
interests of its population in March 2020, impacted the Indian farmers adversely
as they could not sell their winter harvest. There were transportation bottlenecks
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due to the lack of rural labour. Also there was a breakdown of supply chain and Human and Social
Perspective
non-availability of buyers in the wholesale markets. Thereby it was the state
policy which directly influenced the social opportunity of the Indian farmers
during this health crisis in the country. The terms ‘social’ and ‘economic’ are to
complement each other. For instance, a market maybe functioning well but a
person can only use the opportunities available in the market if a person is educated
and is healthy. Conversely a person may be well educated and healthy but may
not have access to economic opportunities due to bureaucratic controls or lack
of finance (Dreze and Sen1997:6).
7.4 CAPABILITY APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT
According to the capability approach of Amartya Sen, human beings are the
‘means of all production’ through whom development can be brought about.
(Sen 1990: 41). It is not the increase in wealth that will bring about development
but people as means will bring about progress. He argued that the pursuit of
more wealth is only an intermediate goal and it should be seen in terms of how it
improves human lives. For instance countries might have high national income
but may rate low in terms of well-being of people. Development should improve
the quality of human life. Human life on the other hand can be visualized through
the capability approach. The capability approach to development contains three
key concepts: functioning, capability and agency.
Capability approach sees human life ‘functionings’ as ‘a set of beings and doings.’
Therefore, human life can be assessed through the ‘capability to function’. (Sen
1990: 43).Functionings here refers ‘being’ and ‘doing’ what people value.
Capability refers to the freedom a person enjoys in being or doing what they
value. Thereby capability contributes to the well-being of people. Quality of life
can be assessed through the capability of individuals to function. The capability
approach does not only focus on income in the exercise to assess the quality of
life. In the capability approach the set of doings and beings or the functioning
have to be assessed. Richness of life can be assessed through the capability to
achieve the valued activities. Since elements of life are then composed of different
functionings a person is seen as exercising an agency rather than a passive person.
Agency refers to the ability of a person to follow objectives that they value or
have reason to value. As agents individuals can determine their priorities and the
means to achieve them. But since decisions about development are made by
social groups rather than by people, people need to be educated and they also
should have the freedom to express their views and exercise agency regarding
development policy and its implementation.
7.5 DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM
Thus, exclusionary focus on seeing development in terms of income and economic
growth cannot guarantee that a country maybe leading a richer life. Amartya Sen
elucidates this viewpoint through an anecdote in an eighth century Sanskrit text
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. In this text a woman named Maitreyee is engaged
in a conversation with her husband Yajnavalkya. Maitreyee asks him ‘if “the
whole Earth” full of wealth” were to belong to her, she could achieve immortality
through it.” Yajnavalkya her husband, responds that she would not become
immortal but only wealthy. Maitreyee then asks, ‘What should I do with that by
which I do not become immortal?’ (cited in Sen, 1999: 13). 97
Theorising Development In the book ‘Development as Freedom’ Amartya Sen argued that in development
the focus should be on the enlargement of people’s freedoms. The development
approach that focuses on Gross National Product (GNP) is only a means to secure
the expansion of freedoms enjoyed by people in society. But exercise of freedom
is also dependent on social and political rights and facilities for education and
health. To Sen, development requires the removal of many basis of unfreedom
as unavailability of public facilities, meagre economic opportunities for poverty
alleviation, fanaticism of repressive states and social deprivations. Sometimes
due to poverty people cannot satisfy their nutrition needs or access health care
and education. But unfreedom can also be because of the lack of health care
programs as at the time of the pandemic in 2020. During pandemic times, persons
in various countries experienced unfreedom due to the unavailability of a vaccine
to fight and restrict the spread of the virus COVID 19. In 2020 USA with the
highest GDP faced a health crisis in the country due to the spread of the virus
and consequent deaths.
According to Amartya Sen freedom is important for the process of development
for two major reasons 1.) The Evaluative Reason: Development can be assessed
by visualizing if the freedoms enjoyed by people are enhanced 2.) The
Effectiveness Reason: Development is said to take place only if people exercise
free ‘agency’. So exercise of agency and the expansion of freedom go hand in
hand. He gives an agent oriented view of development. Human beings have a
role in moulding their lives. They are not passive receivers of development
programs.
People can exercise their agency only if they have freedom of expression, freedom
to access health care, education or freedom to politically participate in a
democracy. He also argues that freedoms are the means of development and the
different freedoms are also interconnected with each other (See Box 7.1)
Box 7.1
Development as Freedom
Freedoms are only the primary ends of development, they are also among its
principal means. In addition to acknowledging, foundationally, the evaluative
importance of freedom, we also have to understand the remarkable empirical
connection that link freedoms of different kinds with one another. Political
freedoms (in the form of free speech and elections) help to promote economic
security. Social opportunities (in the form of education and health facilities)
facilitate economic participation. Economic facilities (in the form of
opportunities for participation in trade and production) can help to generate
personal abundance as well as public resources for social facilities. Freedoms
of different kind can strengthen one another.
Excrept From Amartya Sen’s Development as Freedom, 1999, p.11
7.6 PROCESS OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Mahbubul Haq recognised four concerns for the application of human
development. These are equity, efficiency, participation and sustainability.
However there may also be other concerns as the respect for human rights (Alkire
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and Deneulin 2009: 29).The four concerns identified by Mahbubul Haq to be to Human and Social
Perspective
be adhered to in the process of development are as follows:-
Equity is not the same as equality. Equity implies that there should be fairness
of treatment towards all sections of people in a society. For instance, there
should be schemes to enable the weaker sections of society as the poor, the
women and the differently abled to lead a richer life.
Efficiency refers to the minimal use of human and natural resources to expand
the capability of individuals and societies.
Participation implies the agency and empowerment of individuals to
influence the development process in their social groups. So this approach
puts people first as they are involved at every stage of development policy
making and implementation.
Sustainability argues that development takes place in such a way so that the
outcomes sustain over time. Development should take place in a way that
the nature and environment are unharmed. Sustainability should be social,
environmental and financial so that the interests of the future generations
are unharmed.
7.7 IDEAS CONNECTED WITH HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE
In this section we will be studying some of the perspectives that are connected
with human development such as basic needs, human rights and human security.
As discussed in the previous section the earlier approach to development argued
that economic growth would eliminate poverty, improve the life of people and
also expand their opportunities to live life in a certain way. The focus in this
perspective was largely on the economic growth and the tricking down of benefits
to the poor. The first ‘Development Decade’ was declared by the UN General
Assembly in 1961. The objective was to support the states to achieve economic
growth so that both the developed and the developing countries achieve a savings
rate of investment (Deneulin 2009: 57). This focus on economic growth was
questioned in the 1970s as economic growth could not do away with the wealth
concentration in the hands of a few and a class of have nots.
We will focus on the first perspective connected with the human development
approach and that is ‘basic needs’. It was the ‘basic needs’ perspective to
development provided an alternative to the economic growth perspective in the
1970s. The basic needs approach focused on the minimum conditions that are
required for life such as health, nutrition, education, safe drinking water, housing,
Like the human development approach the basic needs approach focused on
improving the human life, not only in economic terms but also in socio- cultural
terms. However, the human development approach propounded by Sen and
Mahbub-ul- Haq is based on a wider theoretical and philosophical foundation
than basic needs approach. The human development approach stressed on the
expansion of freedoms and capabilities of individuals and also held that the agency
of individuals was critical in the development process. The human development
approach is applicable in both the developed and the developing countries. On
the other hand the basic needs approach was less applicable to the developed
countries as the US (Deneulin2009: 59). 99
Theorising Development Secondly, human development and the capability approach to development are
also linked to the issue of ‘human rights’ perspective. According to the Human
Development Report 2000 both these approaches work to secure the freedom,
well-being and dignity of people. While the human development approach
assesses the progress in a society through the freedoms available to the individuals,
the human rights enhances human development by focusing on rights and
obligations of individuals. The human rights approach therefore point out that it
is the responsibility of governments and other institutions to respect and safeguard
the human rights of all individuals. The human rights approach therefore draws
attention of institutions towards persons who may not have access to rights related
to education or health. The human rights approach therefore sensitizes human
development approach.
The third perspective that we will be discussing in this unit that is linked to the
human development perspective is ‘human security’. As developing countries
increasingly faced internal conflicts the notion of human security in the human
development approach highlights that military solutions are not enough to tackle
the problems in a conflict ridden society. The 1994 Human Development Report
stated “safety from such chronic threats as hunger, disease and repression, and
protection from sudden and harmful disruptions in the patterns of daily lives,
whether in homes, jobs or communities” (UNDP 1994,p1). Human security is
not only defined in terms of absence of violent conflict but also economic security,
food security, health security, environmental security, personal security,
community security and political security (Deneulin2009: 62).
Check Your Progress
1) Match the following:-
i) Human Development a) Minimal basic needs required for life
ii) Economic Development b) Puts people first
iii) Agency c) Safety from threats as hunger, disease.
iv) Basic Needs d) Focus on economic growth
v) Human Security e) Bringing about change
2) Write short note on the following:-
i) Explain the capability approach on human development?
ii) Explain the phrase ‘development as freedom’ in human development
approach?
7.8 LET US SUM UP
In this unit we discussed the perspective on human development. We explored
the development ethics and how value judgements held by policy makers influence
development policy making, implication and outcomes of development policy.
We understood that in the past, economic development was measured in terms of
economic growth while human development is seen in terms of betterment of
quality of life of human beings. The human development approach puts people
first and works towards enhancing their capability. However, the human
development approach does not exclude sustained economic growth. The
theoretiical base human development approach has been the capability approach
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to development. The capability approach is based on the concepts of capability, Human and Social
Perspective
functioning and agency. Capability here referred to a set of functionings that is
the being or doing what people value. Since the focus in this approach is on
functionings the capability approach views human beings as agents who can
voice their concerns and also influence development. Development should read
to the removal of unfreedoms as illiteracy, ill-health. So, development should
lead to the expansion of freedoms as freedom is the end and means of development.
Mahbubul Haq recognised four concerns for the application of human
development as equity, efficiency, participation and sustainability. We also
discussed some of the perspectives connected with human development as basic
needs, human rights and human security. We discussed that these perspectives
impinge on the human development perspective and the latter has a different
theoretical and philosophical base. Lastly, we discussed the social perspective
on human development. We discussed that the enhancement of human capabilities
is also dependent on social institutions and civil society. Also we discussed that
development policy and social circumstances has a bearing on opportunity of
individuals.
7.9 KEY WORDS
Functionings: Functionings are things that persons value being or doing
according to Amartya Sen. Functionings are things that are valued by human
beings as good health, education, safety.
Capability: Capability refers to the set of functionings. They are a set of
functioning (doings and beings) that persons can achieve.
Agency: Agency refers to the ability of a person to bring about change and affect
the development process.
Freedom: Freedom is the end and means of development.
7.10 FURTHER READING
Dreze, J., A. Sen 1995 India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity.
New Delhi: OUP.
Gasper, D. 2004.The Ethics of Development. Edinburgh University Press:
Edinburgh Sen,A. 1999.Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press: New
Delhi.
UNDP. 2000. Human Development Report: Human Rights and Human
Development. Oxford University Press.
7.11 SPECIMEN ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR
PROGRESS
1) i) b
ii) d
iii) e
iv) a
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v) c
Theorising Development 2) i) According to the capability approach of Amartya Sen, human beings
are the means of development. The capability approach to development
contains three key concepts: functioning, capability and agency.
According to capability approach it is not income that will bring about
development but people as agents of development. Sen argued that
income is not the only adequate measure of development and income
just enables individuals to enrich their lives. For instance countries
might have high national income but may rate low in terms of health
status of people. Development should enrich the lives of human beings.
Capability approach sees human life ‘functionings’ as ‘a set of beings
and doings.’ (Sen 1990: 43). Functioning here refers ‘being’ and ‘doing’
what people value. Capability refers to the freedom a person enjoys in
being or doing what they value. In the capability approach the set of
doings and beings or the functioning have to be assessed. Development
can be assessed through the capability to achieve the valued activities
as education, health, freedom to express views.
ii) In the book ‘Development as Freedom’ Amartya Sen argued that in
development the focus should be on the enlargement of people’s
freedoms. Gross National Product (GNP) is only a means to secure the
expansion of freedoms enjoyed by people in society. Development can
take place when there is removal of many unfreedoms as unavailability
of health facilities, meagre job opportunities for youth, fanaticism of
repressive states and social deprivations. Freedoms are both the primary
ends and means of development. We can assess the development in
society through the freedoms enjoyed by people. But different kinds of
freedom are also interconnected with one another. Political freedoms
as freedom to participate in elections or free speech may promote
economic well-being. Health and education opportunities may lead to
economic participation. So if people exercise their agency, bring about
change, there is expansion of freedom in society.
REFERENCES
Dreze, J., A. Sen 1995 India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity.
New Delhi: OUP.
Deneulin, S., S. White, L.Shahani, A. Proochista, S. Johnson, A.Naveed,
I.Robeyns, R.Spence and Elaine Unterhalter. 2009. An Introduction to Human
Development and Capability Approach: Freedom and Agency. New York: Taylor
and Francis Group
Gasper, D. 2004.The Ethics of Development. Edinburgh University Press:
Edinburgh
Malik, K.2014. Inaugural MahbubulHaq-Amartya Sen Lecture, UNIGE:
Advancing, Sustaining Human Progress: From Concepts to Policies. Retrieved
fromhttp://hdr.undp.org/en/content/inaugural-mahbub-ul-haq-amartya-sen-
lecture-unige
Sen, A. 1990.Development as Capability Expansion.Retrieved
frompunarjitroyc.weebly.com
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Sen,A. 1999.Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press: New Delhi. Human and Social
Perspective
UNDP. 1990. Human Development Report, Oxford University Press, New York,
Retrieved from http// hdr.undp.org/en
UNDP.Human Development Index (HDI) | Retrieved from hdr.undp.org › content
› human-development-index-hdi
UNDP.1994. Human Development Report, New Dimensions of Human Security.
Oxford University Press.
UNDP. 2000. Human Development Report: Human Rights and Human
Development. Oxford University Press.
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