Human Development and Gender Justice in the Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach

The present research examines, within the context of political thought and using the analytical-interpretive method, the most important theoretical assumptions of Amartya Sen’s capability approach, and investigates its effects on the field of gender equality. Here it is argued that understanding development and its impacts on equality and justice cannot be separated from its underlying philosophical implications. In this context, gender-based study of theories of development suggests their failure in the field of women’s issues and their gender-related barriers in benefitting from the opportunities and real sources of life. These approaches either adopt a passive attitude toward women or overlook their abilities by having an abstract conception of freedom and equal opportunity. Capability approach, which is the basis of Amartya Sen’s humane approach to development, provides us with a comprehensive perspective in this regard. By establishing a link between freedom, justice and democracy, Sen considers the empowerment of women to be the axis of development. In this approach, in order to fulfill women’s instrumental freedom, development should focus primarily on women’s empowerment and then provide suitable external conditions for them to express themselves and to have their power of selection.