Contenu du sommaire : Sen, libertés et pratiques du développement

SEN, democracy and the market : a critical assessment. SEN's system of political economy is assumed to offer a renewed outlook on justice and development. This system is supposed to overcome the mainstream economics. But the critical dimension of SEN's work must be assessed. His representation of competitive markets is in fact very close to the dominant liberal paradigm. This arises many questions concerning both SEN's arguments in favor of democracy and the way he deals with justice dilemmas relating to free markets in developing countries. Capabilities' approach should be mobilized eventually against SEN for a radical interpretation of social and economic inequalities and the way to attack them.

From valued freedoms, to polities and markets. The Capability Approach In Policy Practice. This paper considers the concepts and assumptions on which Amartya SEN's policy perspective rests. It examines first his conception of, preoccupation with, and priority to freedom, and explores the strong similarities to the work of John Stuart MILL. It situates SEN's treatment of freedom in relation to his idea of society and his limited conception of community. Second, we compare the valuation he gives to freedom with his declared reticence otherwise in specifying or assessing values. The paper extends DENEULIN's arguments on the insufficiency of freedom as a principle of the good, to suggest development is the collective struggle for and extension of well-reasoned freedoms and humane capabilities, in balance with other reasoned values. Thirdly, we assess SEN's views on the institutionalization of his ideas, and see the incompleteness of political freedom as a path to promotion of other human freedoms, especially in the context of market forces. We need criteria to judge the processes and outcomes of political freedom, and legal constitutions to embody additional values besides political freedom. SEN's ideas require the necessarily conflictual construction of a rights-based approach, to counter evergrowing concentrations of money power.

Capability and Capacity : Re-thinking the subject. The capability approach proposed by A. SEN constitutes a real change in the poverty analysis. It influenced considerably development indicators. However, the question who really is the subject behind this approach is at stake. In this paper we defend the idea that the conception of the person used by SEN is relatively standard. It is then problematic because his approach is not only comprehensive but also normative. His analyse finally conducts to a moral weakness.

Capabilities and thresholds of health. This article proposes an extended extra-welfarist approach of health measure in poor countries. This approach is based on the concept of threshold of health which represents the basic health needs and the potential active role of individuals on their own well-being. A methodology at a macro level is submitted and illustrated with the case of african countries.

Gender inequality and capability approach : what dialogue in Sen's work ? What is the relation between Amartya SEN's interest in gender inequalities and the working out of the capability approach ? Many arguments for the capability approach indisputably draw their strength from a prospect that takes into account women relative disadvantage — one of the biggest inequalities in the world according to SEN. It is thus interesting, and perhaps crucial, to acknowledge the scientific enterprise at the roots of his gender vision. We'll particularly show how the study of food allocation within the family allows him to reach a clearer understanding of what is at stake in individual capability.

Logical frame approach : planning, management and politics in development projects. The « logical framework » is a rational tool for public action, based on a planning perspective focusing on objectives, indicators and expected outcomes. Omnipresent in development institutions, it emphasises a strictly managerial perspective centred on quantifiable factors, legitimization of action, linear and mechanical causality and a positivist epistemology now largely outmoded. It is far away from the sociology of organisations, public policy analyses and the anthropology of development, and ignores political factors, conflicts, the role of actors, or strategic adjustments and feedbacks. However, the practices of development professionals are different from the model. Its usefulness in the selection or evaluation of development projects meets scepticism, but all agree to recognise that it could be an useful tool to control coherence during the project conception process.

The dominant and the dominated in a plantation economy : the case of tomato producers in the Center-East of Ivory Coast. In Ivory Coast, the cash crop sector is going through a crisis. At the same time the urban growth increases the demand for food crops. Tomato production and sale to urban markets is expanding in the Centre-East of Ivory Coast. This paper appraises whether the incomes generated by tomato enable the social and economic autonomy of farmers who are traditionally marginalised in favour of the owners of plantations. In-depth interviews as well as surveys on a representative sample of farmers were used to get information on the history of the farm, access to resources and markets, the activities performed, and the economic results. The place of origin together with the way farmers are socially integrated in the village bear a strong influence on their access to land, labour and market. The natives, i.e. the people who were born in the villages they live in, as well as the immigrants from Ivory Coast or neighbouring countries, who have been living in the village for a long time, use their network of relationships to gain access to land. They are ready to invest time and money in the growing of tomato. The development of tomato production has taken place together with a change in the access to land and labour, which exemplify more diversified types, but is more precarious. Social arrangements inherited from the economy of plantation have adapted to the growing demand for land and to the expanding food cash crops. The development of tomato is thus taking place in the frame of the power relations of the economy of plantation despite some changes in the access to land and labour.

Electricity and space : a view on the Lebanese crisis. Modernizing the power sector was a major goal of the post-Independence regimes. But since the civil war, it has experienced a long crisis. The social transformations (urban growth, poverty) have hampered the efficiency of the production and distribution of electricity. Power shortages still persist, a calamitous management leads to an increasing debt. Deep spatial inequalities in the access to the electricity and in the regulation of the system affect the system. It reveals a strongly differentiated local management, notably regarding fraud and non payment. The programs attempting to counter these practices are implemented with strong differences according to the regions. It reveals the strength of the local actors in the ruling of the sector, and their attempt at preventing the reforms.