“The future of the world’s population is urban.”1 People move to the city for opportunities, money and a better life. When we look at this transition from a freedom perspective, instead of the...Show more“The future of the world’s population is urban.”1 People move to the city for opportunities, money and a better life. When we look at this transition from a freedom perspective, instead of the common resource or utility views, you could question whether the city will always provide this better life. Do urban environments provide the freedoms we value, better than rural environments? In this thesis I claim that certain freedoms, present in rural environments, actually get reduced when people move to the city, and that the urban spatial environment is a crucial factor in this. I will introduce Amartya Sen’s capability approach to elaborate on the importance of capabilities, compared to other normative indicators of human flourishing. Sen’s capability approach does not focus on resources or outcomes, but on the process whereby people flourish; the freedom people have to do and to be as they have reason to value. These substantive freedoms are divided by Sen in a freedom concerned with people’s wellbeing (reflecting capabilities) and a freedom concerned with people’s agency. This distinction is particularly relevant when we consider spatial environments. Where wellbeing freedom deals with the different opportunities open to people, agency freedom concerns the freedom people have to effectively shape and choose their own. By looking at concrete cases, I show that certain freedoms, while present in rural environments, are reduced by the spatial design of our cities, after which I present a number of inspirational design cases which are able to address these losses. I conclude by arguing that, in designing our cities, there is reason to pay more attention to the rural valuing of freedom, both in providing alternative options for people to achieve wellbeing, and in providing space for people to exercise agency in order to conceive a wider range of valuable goals.Show less
In this thesis, the workability of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach will be evaluated by applying this approach to the problem of child trafficking in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. The...Show moreIn this thesis, the workability of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach will be evaluated by applying this approach to the problem of child trafficking in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. The thesis will aim to answer the research question: are policies and social action based on Amartya Sen’s capability approach able to foster social change and decrease the number of children trafficked in Madhya Pradesh? Two root problems of child trafficking have been chosen to be assessed through the Capability Approach. The approach has received much international prestige. It is, therefore, important to constantly evaluate the approach and the ability to foster social change. This has been done through intensive research based on primary and secondary sources. The outcome of the research is that the Capability Approach should be used as an end goal for social change but is lacking the ability to be implemented into direct policies and social action.Show less
Aid practices are often not leading to inclusive human development. Research has shown that recipient countries face challenges to foster social progress, which is here to be understood as...Show moreAid practices are often not leading to inclusive human development. Research has shown that recipient countries face challenges to foster social progress, which is here to be understood as aggregate improvement of income, health status, and freedoms of the population. The challenges are often stemming from ineffective financial allocation of capital. This often forms the foundation for experts’ criticism of the effectiveness of aid efforts. Official Development Assistance (ODA), for example, can be deemed to be one form of partially ineffective aid practice. This study aims at identifying the causal mechanisms, triggered by ODA disbursements, that hinder social development. More specifically, the case of Japanese ODA in Myanmar shall be the focus of this study. Building on existing work, this paper asks: to what extent is Japanese ODA contributing to social progress in Myanmar? Based on an in-depth case study analysis of the Thilawa Special Economic Zone, this study seeks to demonstrate how the Japanese ODA project has not been successfully contributing to social development in Myanmar. The assessment of the results illustrated that the enhancement of human capabilities, understood with the Capability Approach developed by Amartya Sen, has not been verified.Show less
In de huidige tijd van polarisering, technologisering en digitalisering zijn onze liberale vrijheden niet meer zo vanzelfsprekend. Onze democratische rechtsstaat staat onder druk. Voor een...Show moreIn de huidige tijd van polarisering, technologisering en digitalisering zijn onze liberale vrijheden niet meer zo vanzelfsprekend. Onze democratische rechtsstaat staat onder druk. Voor een oplossing kijkt men al snel naar het onderwijs, maar dat gaat zelf gebukt onder de gevolgen van het economisch rendementsdenken. Hoofdvraag in deze scriptie is: Hoe kan het toekomstig Nederlands onderwijs vorm en inhoud worden gegeven om te bewerkstelligen dat we, als mens en als burger, onze vrijheden beter leren bewaken en dat onze liberale democratische rechtsstaat wordt versterkt? Om een antwoord op deze vraag te formuleren bespreek ik allereerst om welke vrijheden het gaat en noem ik een aantal ontwikkelingen waardoor ze onder druk zijn komen te staan. Ook Plato’s beschrijving van de democratie komt aan de orde. Vervolgens bespreek ik wat de doelen van onderwijs zijn. Vertrekpunt daarbij is de visie van Aristoteles. Vervolgens wordt besproken wat in Nederland zwaarder moet wegen, het algemeen belang of individuele vrijheden. Daarbij ga ik in op de reikwijdte van de vrijheid van onderwijs. Vervolgvraag is in hoeverre het wenselijk is om burgerschapsonderwijs en/of persoonsvorming verplicht onderdeel te maken van het curriculum en zo ja, hoe dat kan worden gerechtvaardigd in een politiek liberaal land als Nederland, omdat dergelijk verplicht onderwijs op gespannen voet staat met de liberale waarden. De meningen hierover lopen uiteen, zo laat ik zien aan de hand van de visies van onder anderen Fowler, Brighouse en Rawls. Tevens ga ik in op de Capability Approach en de benadering van Nussbaum. Aan de hand van onder andere de theorieën van Rawls en Nussbaum zal ik verdedigen dat het wenselijk is het algemeen belang boven de vrijheden van het individu te stellen en bepaalde grenzen te stellen aan onze vrijheden, juist om deze te beschermen. Daarna bespreek ik drie onderwijsmodellen die Robeyns onderscheidt en ga ik in op de vraag welk onderwijsmodel het meest geschikt is voor Nederland. In het laatste deel beoordeel ik de plannen voor het toekomstig onderwijs zoals geformuleerd in het eindadvies van Platform 2032 en beargumenteer ik waarom deze slechts gedeeltelijk tegemoetkomen aan de in het voorafgaande deel door mij geformuleerde wensen.Show less
Despite the fact that women and men are equal before the law, and discrimination based on sex, race, ethnic background or sexual orientation is prohibited, economic, political and social...Show moreDespite the fact that women and men are equal before the law, and discrimination based on sex, race, ethnic background or sexual orientation is prohibited, economic, political and social inequalities still persist. Increasing employment opportunities and advances in educational achievement have not end widespread discrimination against women. It is for example still difficult for women to combine paid work with family duties, without limiting their chances of promotion. Women experience a gender pay gap of 16% in the European Union (EU) and are becoming more involved in the informal economy, with its lack of protection and often poor working conditions. Moreover, the trafficking of people for sexual exploitation and sexual and domestic violence disproportionally affects women. It is important for these problems of inequality to be solved because the EU can only be a viable and (gender) just system, when the ongoing disadvantaged position of women, i.e. lack of equal opportunities, unequal access to remunerative employment and gender based sexual and domestic violence is put to an end. Gender Equality Policies (GEP) are set up to diminish these inequalities in opportunities for women, in all areas of life. Since GEP are not solely focussed on rights but on the correction of actual cases of social, economic and political inequality, the question rises how to normatively evaluate GEP. Nussbaum’s capability approach has proved itself of great importance for understanding the human rights discourse accompanied with a focus on human capabilities and functioning. The capability approach provides “a benchmark in thinking about what it is really to secure a right to someone” (Nussbaum, 1997, p. 294), therefore the capability approach is the right end to evaluate GEP in that it argues the importance of policy making that actualizes the human rights discourse. GEP are rectifications of social, political and economic inequalities, therefore Nussbaum’s capability approach, that provides a theoretical framework focussed on gender equality, is the right framework to explore GEP. My thesis will address this question: which GEP could be seen as an example of Nussbaum’s capability approach? In addition, empirical applications in policy making could show the relevance of adding philosophical value to political examples, in order to overcome concrete inequalities. GEP will be discussed in the context of Europe, because the EU could be seen as a unique case to study gender equality, but also diversity and social justice in an increasing globalizing world.Show less
