Re-examining the Capability Approach: the significance of situated personal action competences

The aim of the paper is to contribute to the development of the theoretical framework of the capability approach (CA) from a perspective emphasizing agency and the dynamics of human development situated in a socio-cultural context. Re-examining the basic concepts in the framework of the CA, I address questions such as: What does “conversion”, i.e. the change from the moment a person is said “to have certain capabilities” to the moment when she is said “to have achieved the desirable functionings in practice”, really mean in the empirical world? How can the influences of the conversion factors and the social context, which exert their effects before, during, and after this change, be taken into account in the theoretical framework? To begin with, I argue that the conversion of desirable functionings into real functionings should be understood as a dynamic transformation process structured in four phases: 1) formulation of desirable functioning; 2) creation/expansion of capability; 3) choice of capability; and 4) achieving desirable functionings as real functionings. The main reason why the CA argues that it is better to focus on the ends (outcome) rather than the means, is that people differ in their ability to convert means into valuable outcomes (functionings) (Sen 1992: 26–28, 36–38). However, the framework of the CA lacks a theoretical conceptualization of the critical phenomenon referred to as “ability.” Hence it become impossible to answer important questions, such as how, in what way, does a person become “able” to utilize the relevant means and handle intrinsic and extrinsic conversion factors in order to achieve desired functionings. By introducing a theory of the development of personal action competences (Nygren 2015), covering the aspects of beings and doings in a way that is compatible with the framework of CA, it is possible to address these important questions. I argue that the way the concept of human capability relates to the concepts of extrinsic factors (e.g., means, social context, extrinsic conversion factors) and individual intrinsic factors (e.g., gender, intelligence, knowledge, personal historical influences on preferences) as factors influencing the person’s ability to achieve desirable functionings in practice reveals that the concept of capability should be defined in relation to two underlying concepts denoting two aspects of reality as well as the bi-directional relations between those realities: “opportunities” and “personal action competences.” I argue that personal action competences are necessary in order 1) to identify opportunities as opportunities relevant for the person’s desirable functionings; 2) to create the relevant opportunities, possibly together with other people; 3) to gain access to and to make use of the relevant opportunities in practice; and 4) to manage the potential restrictive influences of extrinsic and intrinsic conversion factors. Finally, I transcended the dichotomy of “the potential functionings” (capabilities) and “the achieved functioning” by presenting a model describing the dynamics of “The generative mechanism for realization of desired beings and doings” over time. I argue that a potential functioning, i.e. a human capability, is created as one of the results of this generative mechanism. This generative mechanism is fueled by the dynamic interactions between particular extrinsic and intrinsic conditions (including the mentioned “conversion factors”), where these interactions are mediated by the person’s personal action competences as a part of the generative mechanism. 1 Professor at the Research Centre for Child and Youth Competence Development, Lillehammer University College, Norway. E-mail: [email protected] To be presented at the HDCA Conference “Capability and Diversity in a Global Society" in Tokyo 2016 2