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The Capability Approach, Technology and Design pp 3–26Cite as

The Capability Approach, Technology and Design: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead

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Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 5))

Abstract

This introduction to the book The Capability Approach, Technology and Design consists of five parts. After a very short general introduction, I will first briefly present the capability approach, including the main concepts and debates about it. Next, I will – in an extensive literature review – take stock of what has been published so far on the capability approach, technology and design – what are the most interesting themes, discussions and ways of applying the approach? This will be divided in two sections: one on technology in general and one, more specifically, on ICT. Then I will highlight some interesting points and recurring themes from the different chapters of this book. I will end with some final reflections on the future of this emerging research topic.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A concise overview of the articles in that special issue (volume 13, number 2) can be found in the editorial by Oosterlaken and van den Hoven (2011).

  2. 2.

    For an analysis of the differences between the capability approach of Nussbaum and Sen, see for example Robeyns (2005) and part II of Crocker (2008).

  3. 3.

    This debate is also addressed at several points in a recent edited volume by some leading scholars on the capability approach (Comim et al 2008).

  4. 4.

    For an introductory textbook on the capability approach and human development, see the edited volume by Deneulin and Shahani (2009).

  5. 5.

    This is not to say that nobody has ever touched upon the topic, on the contrary. Sen and Nussbaum have both mentioned the potential of technology for expanding human capabilities. A recent textbook, An Introduction to the Human Development and Capability Approach (Deneulin and Shahani 2009), says Birdsall (2011), “provides numerous examples of the impact of ICT on various social and economic public policy sectors crucial to the enhancement of human capabilities.” Many of the annually published Human Development Reports, for which the work of Sen has provided the intellectual foundation, have also paid attention to technology. See also a recent UNDP report written by Hamel (2010). And Qureshi (2010), for example, brings up the capability approach in a recent editorial for the journal Information Technology for Development.

  6. 6.

    Considering the rate at which new publications recently have appeared – and continue to appear – at many different places, I do not claim completeness. Without doubt there are publications which have escaped our attention. For example, articles in other languages than English have not been scrutinized on relevance. It should furthermore be noted that conference papers have not been included in this overview, even though some (like Gigler 2004) are interesting and relevant. Moreover, we have been selective in leaving out publications that only loosely mention the capability approach without discussing the approach or any of its main ideas/concepts in any detail.

  7. 7.

    A practical application of the capability approach to this field is also mentioned by Rubbo (2010). She says that the approach, with its ideas about agency, has been a source of inspiration for the international design program Global Studio. Unfortunately, the article lacks detail on how exactly the capability approach has made a difference in this program.

  8. 8.

    Coeckelbergh describes human enhancement as follows: “Human enhancement aims at using technology to create better humans. What this means can best be clarified by saying what it is not: its aim is not therapeutic: it does not restore humans to a ‘normal’ state but wants to create humans that are ‘better than normal’, ‘better than human’.” Human enhancement is closely associated with new and emerging technologies like neurotechnology and nanotechnology.

  9. 9.

    Von Tunzelmann and Wang (2007), in an article on the theory of production, also use the work of Sen “to match the heterogeneity of products and their characteristics existing in markets to the heterogeneity of consumers and their demands.” Yet they stay within their own discipline and do not put it in the perspective of larger issues of poverty and development, as Cozzens et al seem to have in mind.

  10. 10.

    Yet more macro/quantitative issues with respect to the CA and technology could certainly be useful for informing policy and is quite conceivable, considering that the literature on the capability approach at large addresses this type of work extensively.

  11. 11.

    Nichos and Dong (Chap. 10) also mention the appropriate technology movement, I will get back to that.

  12. 12.

    Note though that Ahmed does not refer to the appropriate technology movement.

  13. 13.

    The case of One Laptop per Child in Australia is also briefly addressed by Nichols and Dong in Chap. 11.

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Acknowledgements

This research has been made possible by a grant from NWO, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.

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  1. Philosophy Section, Delft University of Technology, 5015, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands

    Ilse Oosterlaken

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  1. , Philosophy section, Faculty of TPM, Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, Delft, 2628 BX, Netherlands

    Ilse Oosterlaken

  2. , Philosophy section, Faculty of TPM, Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, Delft, 2628 BX, Netherlands

    Jeroen van den Hoven

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Oosterlaken, I. (2012). The Capability Approach, Technology and Design: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead. In: Oosterlaken, I., van den Hoven, J. (eds) The Capability Approach, Technology and Design. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3879-9_1

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