Freedom, Dehumanization and Welfare: An Asian Perspective

Abstract

This article has pursued a new strategy in developing theories for the study of social development, by focusing on a two-fold paradigm for social development – aspects of freedom and oppression, that is, dehumanization. Instead of focusing only on the progress of social development (the “quantitative aspect” of social development), this paper also introduces the issue of existing different qualities of social development. With the use of the Freedom Oppression Matrix, which is presented in this paper, both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of social development can now be measured, and countries/regions can be compared to each other and over time. This new dual approach focusing on both aspects of freedom and aspects of dehumanization/oppression enables us to compare, measure and evaluate, different paths of social development and hence, different strategies and policies applied in the realm of social development. Also, this new approach opens up the possibility of comparing degrees and direction of change with regard to the quality and quantity of social development. The paper employs empirical data to substantiate the new theory developed, and concludes that in most cases freedom precedes humanization, and puts emphasis on the necessity to safeguard all aspects of social development at the same time to the same degree.