This week we tackle the Preface and Introductions of Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen (have you bought your copy?). These two sections provide important insights into the rest of the book. 

Preface

Sen makes two fundamental points in the preface.  He wastes no time by asserting in the first sentence “We live in a world of unprecedented opulence.” This assertion is followed a few paragraphs later with an equally stark statement. ”There are many new problems as well as old ones, including poverty and unfulfilled elementary needs…” These two statements set up a fundamental dichotomy at the core of Development as Freedom. Great wealth and unfulfilled elementary needs separate people into opposing camps that create barriers and tension. 

The second point is his definition of development.  He states, “Development consists of the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave people with little choice and little opportunity of exercising their reasoned agency.” We will return to this definition in later entries of this Re-read but I want to draw your attention to the idea of unfreedoms. At a macro level unfreedoms are apparent, for example, the restriction of movement for incarcerated people. In the example, the restriction intends to inhibit development. Let’s face it, the goal of prison is punishment, not to help people reform. Other unfreedoms such as the lack of affordable daycare and healthcare directly reduce development. At a team level, rules constraining how work is done or requirements for the frequency of meetings are an “unfreedom”. These restrictions may well be rational and reasonable but because they are unfreedoms they are apt to generate tension and inhibit development at a micro level. Translating the ideas of Development as Freedom to the team and organization is an interesting exercise as we spend a substantial amount of time in these near nation-states.

Introduction

In the Introduction, Sen highlights the relationship between development and freedoms. The premise is that development is a process of expanding real freedoms. If we use the lens of an OKR (outcome and key result, an approach to organizing and evolving goals in an organization – see Who Does What By How Much), freedoms are the outcomes we desire. Listening to the news, it is apparent that the two concepts have been flipped (more than occasionally) or at the very least conflated. Development is the outcome and freedoms are the process to enable development. If we take a narrow view of development, the growth of Gross National Product  (GNP) or individual income, certain freedoms become more important than others. The author uses the example of countries that use more deterministic approaches to assigning labor to roles as an example of an “unfreedom” used to hasten development. It can be argued that forced urbanization in China hastened economic development but at a cost not measured in a GNP-only view of development. Enter the need to account for other determinants, such as social and economic arrangements. Sen states “Development requires the removal of major sources of unfreedom: poverty as well as tyranny, poor economic opportunities as well as systematic social deprivation, neglect of public facilities as well as intolerance or overactivity of repressive states.” The agile movement in a microcosm reflects a case study of how a movement begins by removing unfreedoms only to be systematized and co-opted into rules that reduce freedom and therefore development in a broader sense. Unfreedoms remove agency and force reliance on others or acceptance of constraints. Slavery in the United States generated rules that enshrined unfreedoms to enhance the development of one category of people at the expense of another. 

Sen asserts that “free and sustainable agency” is a major engine of development. The constraints placed on agency in any group define their culture and influence the shape and direction of development. If we were to imagine the attributes affecting agency as a large audio mixer the channels would include “economic opportunities, political liberties, social powers, and the enabling conditions of good health, basic education, and the encouragement and cultivation of initiatives.” In a perfect world, the all-wise audio engineer would adjust each channel to maximize development (remember that the broader definition of development is more than just GNP or the Balance of Trade). There is no all-wise editor widdling the dials of the great mixer in the sky. Each group conceives of its own mix of social values and prevailing mores which influence the freedoms of their group and those they influence. The freedoms treasured by one group can and often include the repression of the freedoms of others. 

The author concludes the Introduction (I remember when I ignored everything before the first chapter) by identifying five types of freedom often investigated in the empirical studies referenced later in the text.  

  1. Political freedoms, 
  2. Economic facilities, 
  3. Social opportunities, 
  4. Transparency guarantees, and 
  5. Protective security.

Near the end of the Introduction Sen states, “Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development, they are also among its principal means.” The idea that freedoms both the means and the ends of development required contemplation. The concept also requires a recognition that the things we measure, such as GNP,  are not the outcome but rather a proxy, perhaps even a faint proxy. 

Next Week Chapter 1!  

Previous installments of Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen:Week 1: Context and Logistics