Capability of Justice : Amartya Sen's Capability Approach and its Application as a Framework for Global Justice

Abstract: This thesis assesses the Amartya Sen's Capability Approach as a theory of global justice. Sen proposes a new paradigm for human development, having expansion of human capability as the moral norm for individual and institutional actions. Sen's paradigm-shifting theory is tested first as a theory of social ethics; and then as a theory of global justice, taking into account globalization’s challenges to theories of justice. The theory's known application – UNDP's Human Development Index and other initiatives – is also scrutinized, aiming to determine whether this application is an accurate translation of the capability approach into reality. On a theoretical point of view, the thesis reveals that what started as a simple interpersonal comparison method can be considered as an efficient theory of global justice, provided that minor proposed amendments are taken. On a practical point of view, the thesis points out that the application of Sen's capability approach is a weak normative representation of the theory, which urges to be reengineered. The thesis calls for a radical expansion of HDI, both in the components of the index (it should urgently have a component for political freedom) and in its unit of comparison. Rather than comparing just nations, human development indexes should target most actors in the global scenario: organizations, NGOs, institutions of global governance and so on.