Sen begins Chapter 9 of Development as Freedom with the sentence: “The contemporary age is not short of terrible and nasty happenings, but the persistence of extensive hunger in a world of unprecedented prosperity is surely one of the worst.” I recently listened to a book about stories about the end of the world—a little light reading. One of the central themes in apocalyptic fiction is overpopulation and food insecurity. In the same vein, one of the central themes in this Chapter is the impact of Malthus and his predictions of crises due to overpopulation. Malthus’s theory is that population growth is exponential while food supply (and most other resources) grow linearly. In essence, the population will outstrip the ability to feed it, triggering a population decline (cue the apocalypse). On a positive note, we have not yet reached a tipping point where world food production can’t feed the world’s population. It is an open question whether science will continue to push the world’s carrying capacity (how many people can survive) upward so the combination of food and population will continue to be explored by apocalyptic and speculative fiction. 

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The second area that caught my attention in this week’s re-read is the discussion on the rhetoric of rights. As Sen notes, discussions of rights are “omnipresent” in our current milieu. Regardless of political stance, freedoms are part of nearly every conversation. The issue often boils down to mediating conflicting freedoms and whether anyone is weighing the consequences of those rights. One twist is the distinction between institutionally sanctioned rights and normative rights. Sen is asking whether we should prioritize legally recognized rights that have caused harm (even if unintentionally) or if the focus should be on promoting ethical or moral rights that can empower people through legal means. Viewed through the prism of food, population, and hunger this distinction pushes Malthusian ideas of failing food production aside for a discussion of distribution failures. Distribution failures are often triggered by human agency couched in a legal envelope.

Also in the chapter, Sen highlights the differences between the libertarian, consequentialist, and utilitarian camps’ view of rights and consequences. In very simplistic terms, libertarians view holding and executing rights as more important than accounting for consequences. Rights are accepted unconditionally. In consequentialism, acts are evaluated based on consequences. The consequentialist then proceeds based on how the most good can be delivered. Rights have no moral value, only the consequences matter. Utilitarians proverbially split the difference evaluating the rights and the outcomes to deliver the best outcome for society. In this philosophy, both the right and the consequence matter. Agile frameworks such as Scrum, are utilitarian. 

Side note: While I explored this chapter, I concluded that I would probably (never say never) describe myself or align with libertarian beliefs. The nail in the coffin came as I contemplated the quote, “Should we stick to the law even if the law is causing harm, or should we change the law to make things fairer?” Simply put, both the journey and the outcome matter to me. 

Population growth has an impact on development. Societies must be involved in deciding how to manage growth. The alternative is that at some point there will be a need to use coercion and to constrain freedoms, which has not been shown to work.

Previous installments of Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen:

Week 1: Context and Logistics

Week 2: Introduction and Preface

Week 3: The Perspective of Freedom

Week 4: The Ends and the Means of Development

Week 5: Freedom and the Foundations of Justice

Week 6: Poverty as Capability Deprivation

Week 7: Markets, State, and Social Opportunity

Week 8: The Importance of Democracy 

Week 9: Social Choice and Individual Behavior

Week 10: Famines and Other Crises

Week 11: Women’s Agency and Social Change