Abstract

This paper is concerned with the role of personhood in development. I will be looking at the extent to which the influential model of development proposed by Amartya Sen does justice to the category of personhood. I will provide an overview of the work of Sen in the area of development and then provide some critical engagement. Drawing from the work of Sen this article provides some pointers or markers towards an approach to development as missionary role. Bosch’s phrase “creative tension” provides a key principle for an approach to development.

Highlights

  • This article is concerned with the role of personhood in development

  • I will be looking at the extent to which the influential model of development proposed by Amartya Sen does justice to the category of personhood

  • In 1961 the World Council of Churches established the Committee for Specialised Assistance to Social Projects to provide the mission boards with resources to assist with their ministry (Van der Bent 1981:69)

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Summary

Introduction

This article is concerned with the role of personhood in development. Development has been an integral part of the ecumenical church and the World Council of Churches. The churches which had a long tradition of mission and projects amongst the disadvantaged played a major role to get the development debate on the church’s agenda (Dickinson 1991:269). This became evident at the ecumenical conferences in Geneva (1966), Uppsala (1968) and Nairobi (1975). I am interested in the complex process through which people come to accept responsibility for addressing their situations This interest is based on the intuition that personhood may well be crucial for any notion of development, precisely in impoverished contexts. This article seeks to identify some of the weaknesses of the development debate and make some suggestions how personhood can contribute to the development debate within the church

Sen and development
Interdependence between freedom and responsibility
Human capital and human capability
Points of critique
Conclusion
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