Amartya Sen's Work and Ideas

Examines Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's ideas through the lens of gender. This book outlines the range and usefulness of his work for gender analysis while also exploring some of its silences and implicit assumptions. It covers major topics in Sen's work, such as the capability approach, justice, freedom, social choice, agency, and missing women.

This unique volume is the first to examine Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's ideas through the lens of gender. His humanitarian approach to economics has been crucial to the development of several aspects of feminist economics and gender analysis. This book outlines the range and usefulness of his work for gender analysis while also exploring some of its silences and implicit assumptions. The result is a collection of groundbreaking and insightful essays, which cover major topics in Sen's work, such as the capability approach, justice, freedom, social choice, agency, missing women, and development and well-being. Perspectives have been drawn from both developing and developed countries, with most of the authors applying Sen's concepts to cultural, geographic, and historical contexts which differ from his original applications. Significant highlights include a wide-ranging conversation between the book's editors and Sen on many aspects of his work, and an essay by Sen himself on why he is disinclined to provide a definitive list of capabilities. These essays were previously published in "Feminist Economics."

Amartya Sen: A Biographical Note
Exploring the Challenges of Amartya Sen's Work and Ideas: An Introduction
Bina Agarwal, Jane Humphries, and Ingrid Robeyns
ARTICLES
Gender and the Foundations of Social Choice: The Role of Situated Agency
Fabienne Peter
Capabilities as Fundamental Entitlements: Sen and Social Justice
Martha C. Nussbaum
Sen's Capability Approach and Gender Inequality: Selecting Relevant Capabilities
Ingrid Robeyns
Intra-household Inequality: A Challenge for the Capability Approach?
Vegard Iversen
Development as Empowerment
Marianne T. Hill
Development as Freedom - and What Else?
Des Gasper and Irene van Staveren
Globalization and Women's Paid Work: Expanding Freedom?
Christine M. Koggel
Slavery, Freedom, and Sen
Stanley L. Engerman
Sen, Ethics and Democracy
Elizabeth Anderson
Does Contraception Benefit Women? Structure, Agency and Well-Being in Rural Mexico
Austreberta Nazar Beutelspacher, Emma Zapata Martelo, and Veronica Vazquez Garcia
Missing Women": Revisiting the Debate
Stephan Klasen and Claudia Wink
Continuing the Conversation
Amartya Sen talks with Bina Agarwal, Jane Humphries, and Ingrid Robeyns
Capabilities, Lists, and Public Reason: Continuing the Conversation
Amartya Sen