Capabilities, Identity, Aspirations and Ecosystem Services: An Integrated Framework

Abstract

The capability approach and the ecosystem services approach have experienced a rapprochement in recent years, evidenced in particular by the publication of several papers in Ecological Economics. Our article advances this rapprochement by embedding the concepts of identity and aspirations. First, we argue that a further set of components should be integrated into the framework: the aspirations set. Second, we argue that a new component within this set i.e. a personal identity conversion factor, must be added to the capability approach so that an integrated analysis framework can be developed. This component derives from the personal identity capability and the aspirations window, both of which are related to cultural ecosystem services. Our analytical framework then highlights all the ambiguity associated with this conversion factor, which can either be a negative or a positive factor in environmental protection.