Wellbeing, Freedom and Social Justice: The Capability Approach Re-Examined

Reviewed by Ian Werkheiser, Associate Professor, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 12/16/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

This book does an excellent job laying out the capability approach conceptually and empirically as well as the various capability theories, and does an excellent job engaging with critiques. The only discussion I felt the absence of while reading the book was a more thorough examination of how capabilities can be created by marginalized or oppressed individuals and groups without broad institutional support. This is not a call for a handbook for activists -- that would be far beyond this book's scope -- but more discussion of how various capabilities theories see the sources and processes of creation of capabilities other than by governmental policy. That discussion would go a long way toward countering the criticism in 4.5 and 4.7 that the capabilities approach focuses too much on government. Given that this issue is less discussed in capabilities theories it is a minor omission in a comprehensive text such as this.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book is highly accurate in its summaries and analyses of the various scholarly works it engages, and students or members of the public reading this will come away with a highly accurate picture of the capabilities approach.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The book is up-to-date with the discourse and highly relevant given the influence of the capabilities approach.

Clarity rating: 5

The book is written in clear, easy-to-understand style, and the author takes great pains to explain any jargon that will be used later in the book.

Consistency rating: 5

The book is fully consistent in terms of its unifying framework and the terminology employed. To do this it must make some choices, because different capabilities theories can have slightly different terms, but these are usually explained or at least mentioned when they occur.

Modularity rating: 3

The book is cumulative, so while individual sections would be of interest to people who were already acquainted with the concepts in earlier sections, it does assume the reader has come to this point linearly. This is not a flaw of the book; not all textbooks need to be fully modular, and saving time by pointing the reader to other sections with hyperlinks is a benefit of publishing online that the book uses.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The book stands out in its excellent organization. As stated in the "modularity" section, the interconnectedness of the book using hyperlinks allows readers to follow particular lines they find interesting, but the entire structure helps build their understanding of the concepts.

Interface rating: 5

There is not much in the way of visual aids, but again the fact that it is published online is leveraged well.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There are no grammatical or stylistic errors; clearly the book was copyedited well.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book aims to be a universal account of capabilities (including a universal account of the often culturally-specific elements of capabilities, conversion factors, and functionings), and does so quite well.

Comments

This is an excellent introduction to an important framework for thinking about global justice, and should be of interest to people in a wide variety of fields, both in and out of the classroom.

Reviewed by Zachary Cober, Resident Director, Radford University on 7/7/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Fully covers the primary topic area; as well as critiques of the topic and possible future developments in the subject. Table of contents, headings, end-notes, and the index are all well organized and comprehensive.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This textbook covers the topic area fully and from a variety of perspectives and arguments.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Content is up to date and should not soon become obsolete. The author should be able to effectively update particular areas as needed.

Clarity rating: 4

The text defines and clarifies important terminology and jargon as needed. Small amounts of outside research my be needed in a few sections for full clarity.

Consistency rating: 5

The core frameworks are defined early on and used consistently throughout the text. Terminology is always used appropriately and accurately.

Modularity rating: 3

The amount of text between headings and subheadings can at times become a larger block of text than may be preferred for chunking material in or out of a course. The text is generally not too self-referential, and when it is, the book is organized in such a way that allows for easy searching of necessary sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text is organized well and each section leads well into the next.

Interface rating: 5

Displayed and navigated well on a 12" laptop screen, I cannot speak for other devices at various display sizes and aspect ratios.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No significant grammatical errors spotted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text draws upon a variety of backgrounds and perspectives, and is designed to help explain and advocate for philosophical social justice and wellbeing.

Comments

Informative and interesting read.