Children and the Capability Approach (Studies in Childhood and Youth)

Exploring a wide variety of case studies and developmental issues from a capability perspective, this book is an original contribution to both development and children's studies that raises a strong case for placing children's issues at the core of human development. This collection places children's issues at the centre of understandings of human development. Using Amartya Sen's 'Capability Approach', the contributors to this book draw on new tools and theoretical perspectives to understand the role of children in human development. Looking at a wide range of themes including child poverty, microfinance, disability, education, the built environment, the role of emotions and promoting children's active participation, this study furthers the capability approach as a key theoretical perpsective in understanding children and development Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 List of Figures......Page 8 List of Tables......Page 9 Prologue......Page 12 Acknowledgements and Dedication......Page 15 Foreword......Page 16 Notes on Contributors......Page 17 Part I: Introduction and Theoretical Perspectives on Children and the Capability Approach......Page 24 1 Introduction – Theoretical Foundations and the Book’s Roadmap......Page 26 2 Children’s Agency and the Capability Approach: A Conceptual Framework......Page 45 3 Child Poverty as Capability Deprivation: How to Choose Domains of Child Well-being and Poverty......Page 69 Part II: Understanding Children’s Capabilities: Methods and Case Studies......Page 100 4 From Valuing to Evaluating: Tools and Procedures to Operationalize the Capability Approach......Page 102 5 Street Children in Kampala and NGOs’ Actions: Understanding Capabilities Deprivation and Expansion......Page 130 6 Sen’s Capability Approach: Children and Well-being Exploredthrough the Use of Photography......Page 160 7 Child Agency and Identity: The Case of Peruvian Children in a Transitional Situation......Page 185 8 Micro-finance, Street Children and the Capability Approach: Is Micro-finance an Appropriate Tool to Address the Street Children Issue?......Page 198 9 ‘Good for Children’? Local Understandings versus Universal Prescriptions: Evidence from Three Ethiopian Communities......Page 223 10 Children’s Capabilities and Family Characteristics in Italy: Measuring Imagination and Play......Page 245 Part III: Policy Implications......Page 266 11 Rethinking Children’s Disabilities through the Capability Lens: A Framework for Analysis and Policy Implications......Page 268 12 Rethinking Access to Education through the Capability Approach: The Case of Street Children......Page 294 13 Re-examining Children’s Economic and Non-Economic Activities Using the Capability Approach......Page 309 14 Children’s Capabilities: Toward a Framework for Evaluating the Built Environment......Page 327 Part IV: Conclusions......Page 352 15 Developing Children’s Capabilities: The Role of Emotions and Parenting Style......Page 354 16 Final Remarks and Conclusions: The Promotion of Children’s Active Participation......Page 363 Author Index......Page 369 Subject Index......Page 371 'This landmark book opens up children's capabilites as an entirely new field. Combining illuminating theoretical discussion and a wide range of interesting international case studies, the book establishes how we can do much more to recognise children in the conceptual vocabulary of the capability approach. It thus orients us towards better social research and practice with and for children.' - Elaine Unterhalter, Professor of Education and International Development, Institute of Education, #University of London, UK

Exploring a wide variety of case studies and developmental issues from a capability perspective, this book is an original contribution to both development and children's studies that raises a strong case forplacing children's issues at the core of human development.