Le concept de capabilité d'Amartya Sen est-il utile pour l'économie féministe?

Abstract

The core claim of Amartya Sen's capability approach is that interpersonal comparisons for analyses of poverty, inequality, justice or development should focus on what people are effectively able to do and to be, that is, on their capabilities. In recent years the capability approach has become very popular among feminist economists. But does the capability approach have the potential to address feminist concerns? There are at least three aspects of the capability approach that make it a gender-sensitive evaluative framework: its focus on functionings and capabilities; the key role given to human diversity; and its relation to individualism. Nevertheless, the capability approach can be used for non-feminist or even anti-feminist analysis, if one espouses explanatory theories that are non- or anti-feminist. Feminist economists will therefore have to invest their energies into showing how social institutions and collective decision-making processes can be gender-biased. The capability approach can be an ally in a feminist research program, but is insufficient in and of itself.