List Of Capabilities Research Articles

Increasing Transparency When Assessing the Impact of Technology on Human Well-Being

The authors argue that the impact of technological artifacts on well-being is inconsistently assessed since evaluation criteria are conditioned by the definition of technology, the moral perspective taken, and the heterogeneity of interests at stake. An analytical framework is proposed to structure this evaluation process. It is based on the capability approach and uses Nussbaum's list of central capabilities and the five moral principles put forward by Peterson for the ethical evaluation of technology. An illustration of the framework applied to automobility is provided.

Contributions from the capabilities approach to the human rights practice

The article analyses the contributions offered from the capabilities approach to the human rights theory. The capabilities approach is a theory developed by Martha Nussbaum, US-American philosopher, that analyses the basic capabilities (alternative combinations of functionings that a person have the possibility to achieve) every human should achieve in order to live a life with dignity. The article demonstrates that Nussbaum´s theory contributes greatly for the development of human rights, by offering a list of specific capabilities that should be guaranteed to every human being by the State, with particular concern for vulnerable groups such as women, children and elderly. Even though the theory presents indisputable contributions, criticism is also presented, based upon mostly its essentialist point of view. In order to achieve the proposed objective, the methodology applied was bibliographical review.

Using Nussbaum’s central capabilities to understand caring for older people in New Zealand

In this article, we use the capability approach and Nussbaum’s list of essential capabilities to understand the experiences of people providing (informal) care for older people. Nussbaum’s ten essential capabilities were used as a template to analyse contributions to an online forum created for the research. The carers’ posts indicated they valued these capabilities, though, in some instances, struggled to achieve them in the context of providing care. The capability approach provided a useful framework to move beyond caring as beneficial or burdensome, to view care as valued and as influencing other capabilities among carers for older people.

Meaningful Labour, Employee Ownership, and Workplace Democracy: A Comment on Weidel (2018)

Timothy Weidel has argued that Martha Nussbaum’s list of central capabilities should be amended to include a capability for meaningful labour. This paper extends Weidel’s ideas, arguing that meaningfulness in the workplace cannot be addressed without critically examining the formal ownership and management structure of businesses. Through specific examples, I argue that capabilities scholars and practitioners ought to encourage the proliferation of employee-owned and democratic businesses as a part of their human development strategy.

Nussbaum’s capability approach and African environmental ethics: is the African voice heard?

ABSTRACT Martha Nussbaum’s capability approach (CA) offers a framework for a universal conception of human development. This paper interrogates Nussbaum’s approach using African environmental ethics (AEE) to see if it captures African ways of valuing nature. It looks at two ways in which Nussbaum’s approach considers the value of the natural environment: a) by applying her list of capabilities to non-human animals and b) by including, what is here termed, an environmental capability in Nussbaum's list of ten central capabilities she deems necessary for a person to flourish. The author argues that, despite limitations and need for further exploration, the second way of ‘environment capability’ aligns well with how nature is valued in AEE. The author also shows that both Nussbaum and AEE value nature in a way that, while not necessarily intrinsic, goes beyond material instrumentality and opens avenues for further discussion of the capabilities approach in traditional value systems

Cultivating the Capabilities of the Marginal Person in Language Study

This paper seeks a method to cultivate the capabilities of the marginal person in language study by focusing on the concept of capability. The traditional utilitarianism and contractarianism ignore the marginal person at the beginning of the design of social structure, since one of the crucial motivations they pursued is mutual advantage. In contemporary society, Rawls innovatively mixes the Kantian ideas and the contractarian traditions, proposing the theory of justice to address the issue of inequality. Whereas, Amartya Sen find some drawbacks of Rawls’ theory and criticize it, for this reason, Amartya Sen initially and creatively came up with the concept of capability to deal with the unequal phenomenon in his book The Quality of Life. Furthermore, Martha Nussbaum, based on Amartya Sen’s capability approach, provided a core capabilities list to extend the scope of justice towards the marginal person, so as to help the disabilities and impairments get more actual opportunities to live a dignified life. She emphasized the vital roles of the government, the education, as well as the institution within her theory. In order to better find a method for understanding and supporting the marginal person, this paper would illustrate the radical interpretation model of triangulation proposed by Davidson within his method of truth-conditional theory of meaning. Consequently, combined the concept of capability with the model of triangulation, the difficulties which the marginal person have encountered could be dealt with reasonably and appropriately.

It’s about Process: Who Draws up the List of Capabilities and How?

ABSTRACT I agree with the focus article that, in theory, ‘capabilities’ represent the most ethically appropriate informational space for evaluating housing outcomes. My concerns with the article are twofold. First, it overestimates the practical utility of the capabilities approach for qualitative and quantitative housing research. Second, it leaves unanswered the more pressing and pertinent procedural question of “who decides on the list of capabilities and how?”. In line with Sen, I argue that the list of capabilities (or any alternative framework for evaluating housing outcomes) should be determined from the bottom-up through a process of deliberative democracy.

An Evaluation on The Criticism of Amartya Sens Development Approach

The traditional development economics that emerged after the Second World War explained development with quantitative variables such as income or growth. In the neoliberal development policies after 1980, it was assumed that development would occur spontaneously by removing the barriers to the market. Amartya Sen approaches development economics differently from both traditional and neoliberal understandings. Sen criticizes the way development is handled by quantitative changes such as income growth and growth in traditional development economics, and defines development as the expansion of capabilities/freedoms. His criticisms of traditional development economics have led to the questioning of dominant theories and their loss of importance. As a result of these criticisms and the new concepts he developed, Sen's understanding of development has been discussed or criticized in different forms by different groups and schools. Thus, the advantages or difficulties of the understanding of development were tried to be made clear. Applicability of the capability approach, what the capability list should content, and also how Sen handle the concepts of freedom, democracy and power have been criticized. The purpose of this study is to investigate the extent to which Sen differ from traditional development economics and whether he offers a viable alternative in the light of the criticisms directed to Sen's understanding of development.

Towards Medical Data Interoperability Through Collaboration of Healthcare Devices

In the era of smart devices and connected neighborhoods, the ubiquitous monitoring and care of patients are possible with the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). Smart healthcare devices may serve their purpose well when they are able to share patient's data with each other. However, data formats vary widely across vendors, rendering these devices not interoperable. Recent solutions mostly rely on cloud services where a source device uploads the data, and the sink devices download it conforming to their own native formats. However, the quality of service is expected to deteriorate in a cloud processing regime with inherent network delays and traffic congestion, and the real-time data acquisition and manipulation is, therefore, not possible. This article presents MeDIC, a framework of Medical Data Interoperability through Collaboration of healthcare devices. MeDIC improves over a cloud-based IoMT by utilizing translation resources at the network edge, with its probing and translating agents. The probing agents maintain a capability list of MeDIC devices within a local network and enable one MeDIC device to request data conversion from another device when the former is not capable of this conversion by itself. The translating agent of the later then converts the data into the required format and returns it to the former. These novel agents allow IoMT devices to share their redundant computing resources for data translations in order to minimize cloud accesses. Legacy devices are supported through MeDIC-enabled, fog resource managers. We evaluate MeDIC in four use cases with rigorous simulations, which prove that this collaborative framework not only reduces the uplink traffic but also improves the response time, which is critical in real-time medical applications.

Teoria parcial de justiça e estrutura política democrática na teoria de Nussbaum

Neste trabalho defendemos que o progresso da abordagem das capabilities está no desenvolvimento teórico da estrutura política democrática, para tanto, tomaremos como base o modelo normativo de Nussbaum. Primeiramente esta investigação classifica a teoria das capabilities em dois grupos: o modelo top down e o bottom up. Nussbaum tem um tipo de abordagem de “cima para baixo”, na qual inicia construindo uma teoria que parte de questões mais abstratas e somente depois desce para o nível de implementação institucional. Enquanto Amartya Sen, em contrapartida, possui um modelo “de baixo para cima”, iniciando das demandas de justiça que vem da esfera pública, depois subindo para questões normativas menos concretas (a sua “ideia de justiça”). No segundo momento, apresentamos a teoria parcial de justiça de Nussbaum argumentando que ela é composta de quatro estágios: (a) primeiro, a elaboração da lista de capabilities, (b) segundo, o processo de validade normativa, (c) terceiro, a estabilidade de uma sociedade justa (d) quarto, a implementação institucional do limiar básico de capabilities. Em relação a esse quarto estágio, no terceiro momento do artigo, desenvolvemos especificamente o papel da estrutura política como escopo teórico o qual a teoria das capabilities precisa investir como forma de progresso teórico. Em outras palavras, o futuro da teoria das capabilities está principalmente no entrelaçamento entre teoria das capabilities com uma forma de governo democrática. Finalmente, na última seção, propomos uma reelaboração do limiar básico de capabilities (a lista) de Nussbaum, de forma a torná-lo mais compatível com a estrutura política democrática.

ФОРМУВАННЯ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНО-АНАЛІТИЧНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ МАЙБУТНІХ ОФІЦЕРІВ ЗБРОЙНИХ СИЛ УКРАЇНИ: НАУКОВО-ПЕДАГОГІЧНИЙ АСПЕКТ

In this article explains needs of preparation the information and analytic competence for the future officers in the Ukraine Armed Forces during their study in the military high educational institutes. Information function realizes by the future officer as information and analytic competence. Professional level of analytic and project activities of the future officers provides their education content. Modern officer should be ready for professional, social and pedagogic, culture and education, management, physical-training and special activities. Analytic competence means logic: methods of rational thinking, arguments, ideas analysis. According theoretical analysis of the preparation and development professional competences: there is large difference between level of professional skills and requirements for the capabilities. The current methodology of education and professional training of the military specialist is not perfect because there is so difficult to create require full list of capabilities during all term of education. The leading criteria for assessing the training of future military specialists to carry out tasks and responsibilities in the direction of professional training are identified. Also was analyzed the basic requirements for the formation of information and analytical competence of future officers, lists and defines the main methodological approaches and principles of organization of information and analytical activities. There was indicated pedagogical conditions for formation information and analytic competences in the military education environment. The structural components of information and analytical competences and leading aspects regarding its formation and development was determined. In solving the problems of the formation of informational and analytical competence of future officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the urgent issues are the introduction of the technology of forming this competence in the educational process of higher military educational institutions. The introduction of practical teaching methods in the educational process of training specialists in the socio-cultural sphere will contribute to the fact that after graduation, graduates at a sufficient level will be able to form their own conclusions, ideas and informed choices based on certain information, master the techniques and methods of information analytics, be able to practically apply, will be ready to conduct information and analytical activities in the structural units of the Armed Forces Ukraine.

Toward a Capability-Based Account of Intergenerational Justice

In this paper, I will draw on the capabilities approach to social justice and human development as advanced, among others, by Martha Nussbaum, and seek to provide some theoretical resources for better understanding our obligations to future persons. My argumentative strategy is as follows: First, I’ll briefly reconstruct a capabilities approach to justice, examining this sort of view’s normative foundations and methodology. Using Nussbaum’s capabilities list as a basis, I will argue that various social and environmental functions which are threatened by climate change are crucial with respect to enabling morally and politically central capabilities for both current and future people. Here, I will draw on recent work by Breena Holland to establish the notion of a sustainable climate system as a necessary precondition for the enablement and protection of these entitlements. Then, I’ll extend this strategy to argue that the capabilities approach provides a uniquely useful threshold conception of harm to inform our thinking about our relationship to our posterity. It is my hope that the capabilities approach so applied can give us a novel way of understanding our responsibilities toward future people in a time where such an understanding is both unfortunately lacking and increasingly dire. Finally, I will discuss some implications of a capability-based account in the intergenerational context and some justifications for applying the approach in this way. Ultimately, I submit that this sort of view seems more well-fitted to this context than other approaches (e.g., contractarianism and consequentialism), and that it offers a unique vehicle for understanding our relations and obligations to future people.

Artificial Intelligence Techniques for Phishing Detection

The objective of this undertaking is to apply neural systems to phishing email recognition and assess the adequacy of this methodology. We structure the list of capabilities, process the phishing dataset, and execute the Neural Network frameworks. we analyze its exhibition against that of other real Artificial Intelligence Techniques – DT , K-nearest , NB and SVM machine.. The equivalent dataset and list of capabilities are utilized in the correlation. From the factual examination, we infer that Neural Networks with a proper number of concealed units can accomplish acceptable precision notwithstanding when the preparation models are rare. Additionally, our element determination is compelling in catching the qualities of phishing messages, as most AI calculations can yield sensible outcomes with it.

Computer Aided Classification and Detection of Leaf Disease using ANN

The contribution of a plant is highly important for both human life and environment. Diseases will affect plant, like all humans and animals. Various diseases may affect plant which disturbs the plants normal growth. Leaf, stem, fruit, root, and flower of the plant may get affected by these diseases. Without proper care the plant may die or its leaves, flowers, and fruits drop. Finding of such infections is required for exact distinguishing proof and treatment of plant sicknesses. The current technique for plant malady discovery utilizes human contribution for distinguishing proof and characterization of illnesses and these strategies endure with time-unpredictability. PC supported programmed division of illnesses from plant leaf utilizing delicate registering can be fundamentally valuable than the current techniques. In this paper, we proposed a method using Artificial neural network (ANN) for identification, classification and segmentation of diseases in plant leaf automatically. In the proposed system capturing the leaf images is done first and then contrast of the image is improved by using Contrast Limited Adaptive Histogram Equalization(CLAHE) method. Then, color and texture features are extracted from the segmented outputs and the ANN classifier is then trained by using that features and it could able to separate the healthy and diseased leaf samples properly. Exploratory outcomes demonstrate that the arrangement execution by ANN taking list of capabilities is better with an exactness of 98%.

Dignity in Transgender Lives: A Capabilities Approach

Transgender people frequently contend with serious challenges to living lives of dignity. They face elevated risks of violent assault, discrimination in employment and healthcare, and social, legal, and political hostility. This paper considers Martha C. Nussbaum’s capabilities approach as a means of addressing the needs of transgender people. Following Nussbaum’s lead, the analysis considers how the capabilities approach speaks to the disparities and obstacles faced by transgender people and which of Nussbaum’s list of Central Capabilities must be secured to ensure that they are able to live flourishing lives of dignity. Further, the paper advances proposals to modify three of the Central Capabilities in order to comprehensively address the dignity needs of transgender people and, more broadly, all persons whose gender presentation does not conform to traditional expectations.

In Your Best Interest

We introduce the opportunity for Capability Approach, developed by Martha C. Nussbaum (1997, 2006, 2011), to be used as a guideline to balance the principle of the child’s best interests as formulated in the crc, art. 3 and respect for family life, echr, art. 8, in cases where these principles are drawn in different directions. To contextualize a dilemma, we refer to two stories from the Norwegian courts which illustrate how complex this can be. The stories are similar in the way that they both are related to an evaluation of children`s best interests. We argue conclusively that the list of capabilities could strengthen and supplement the content of the principle of child’s best interests. The list constitutes a basis for participation and insight into the child’s situation, which is valuable when in a position of making decisions critical to the child’s current and future abilities, opportunities and potentialities.

The ability of community based natural resource management to contribute to development as freedom and the role of access

Abstract Ribot’s access constraints mediate the generation of development benefits from community based natural resource management and co-management systems and programs. Context-specific access constraints also interact with diverse understandings of what constitutes development to create benefits that are non-linear through time, multi or uni-level, prone to hysteresis, socially mediated, vary through space and experienced quite differently by different social actors. In hybridized State-community governance arrangements, this complexity results in ongoing tensions and entanglements as different social actors seek to leverage available opportunities to overcome or circumvent short or longer-term access constraints in pursuit of their understanding of development. In turn, this complexity makes it difficult to understand the full suite of potential development benefits generated by community based natural resource management or co-management structures. Here, we explore potentially competing conceptualisations of development, and the contribution of community based natural resource management to these understandings of development. Using Australia’s Indigenous Land and Sea Management Programs to inform this exploration, we show that development is primarily conceptualised as ‘control, leadership, empowerment and independence,’ in line with Sen’s development as freedom, by the Indigenous groups involved in these programs. State actors understand development in ways that more closely align with Sen’s functionings, or a capability list – for example, the relative uptake of jobs and training. Despite this potential mismatch, some Indigenous groups have been able to leverage opportunities available to them, including those provided by the programs, to overcome access constraints to their understandings of ‘freedom’. We conclude by offering suggestions as to how community based natural resource management programs could be improved.

Facilitating the transition from bright to dim environments

High on the list of desired capabilities for warfighters noted at the 2008 Fort Benning “Lab Day” was the development of combat protective eyewear with lenses that would instantly change the amount of light they transmit, based on incident lighting conditions. We reviewed the investigation regarding the effect of four different protective spectacle lens designs [clear, standard sunglass, step filter (SF), and electro-optical (EO)] on a soldier’s ability to rapidly transition from bright to dim environments. The dependent measures were selected to specifically permit the findings to be evaluated in both clinical and operational terms. A multifactorial analysis of variance revealed global statistically significant interactive effects regarding the viewing lenses, subject marksmanship, and subject visual acuity. The subjective preference ratings indicated a clear preference for the SF and the EO eyewear over no eyewear, the Authorized Protective Eyewear List (APEL) clear eyewear, and the APEL sun eyewear. Operational performance results while wearing either of these two optical devices (the SF eyewear and the electronic eyewear) are equally effective. Consequently, the fielding of either transition strategy provides equal acceptance and utility by the soldiers using this transitional gear.

Data flow analysis from capability lists, with application to RBAC

For the analysis of access control networks, where capability lists, access control matrices, or RBAC permissions are available, it can be very useful to be able to determine which subjects can be able to know, or which objects can be able to store, data originating from objects in the network. This information can be used in order to answer questions of secrecy, integrity and privacy, related to the data flow analysis problem. On the basis of a logical method, we present a graphical formalism capable to represent such networks and for which the data flow problems can be defined. We present algorithms to calculate answers to data flow questions. Complexity analysis and simulations show that these questions can be practically answered for networks of sizes up to several tens of thousands of subjects and objects, which is the size of many real-life organizations. We also show that the results obtained can be used in the process of role engineering in Role based access control, for determining secrecy levels, as well as for eliminating or combining roles or objects. Finally, a method is demonstrated to go from capability lists to Label-based access control systems.

Misunderstandings of Capability Approach: Towards Paradigm Pluralism

Capability approach figures among the most prominent approaches of social science disciplines. One reason for this is that in a world plagued by daunting inequalities and repressions the term capability presents a whole host of potentials. Another reason is that the failures or shortcomings encountered in development studies the last several decades have created something of a vogue for capability approach both in academia and industry. In the meantime, however, capability approach represents one of the most misunderstood and misused approaches of modern day times. One most pervasive misunderstanding or misuse comes with the idea that capability approach is unable to provide a definite, exhaustive list of capabilities nor to achieve measurable units of development. This idea is further compounded by the fact that Sen (1999, 2009) himself the originator of capability approach has invariably dismissed the discussions concerned with list and measurability. The present paper aimed to highlight the core nature of capability approach, while dispelling the misunderstandings surrounding it. Content analysis was conducted to appraise how capability approach was presented. Sen works were thus perused in light of a wider social science literature, with a focus on methodology. This is mainly because development studies are an interdisciplinary field. In so doing the paper was able to reposition capability approach as an interpretive, qualitative approach. It was thus found that authors continue to misuse and view capability approach through the lens of quantitative research. It was also found that interpretivism is by no means defined or evaluated based on the ability to supply a list of specific items and the measurability thereof. The paper suggested some paths for future research.