the capability approach as model to apply the value
TRANSCRIPT
Sir Christopher Wren designed and supervised the building of 51 churches in London after the great fire of London in 1666. The reconstruction of St. Paul’s Cathedral was his masterpiece.
One morning, Wren, who was not personally known by many of the workers, stopped and asked three different laborers, all engaged in the same task, what they were doing. He gotthree different answers.
The first said, “I am cutting this stone.”The second answered, “I am earningthree shillings, six pence a day.”The third man straightened up, squared his shoulders, and still holding his mallet and chisel, replied, “I am helping to build the most beautiful cathedral of London.”
The capability approach (CA) is an approach that is value-driven and gives the possibility to identify important values and to analyze how people are enabled and able to achieve these values.The approach, developed by Nobel prize laureate Amartya Sen, is an ethical framework that states that social justice should focus on supporting the capabilities of all individuals to conceive, pursue, and revise their life plans. The CA looks for what is valuable for and valued by people, and how these values can be achieved in life. The approach states explicitly that it is the shared responsibility of the individual and the social context to build up and facilitate the capability set and to achieve and enable a valuable life. Capabilities are the opportunities for fulfilling achievements / ‘functionings’ or ‘beings and doings people have reason to value’.
The capability approach
Other applicationsPreventive (collective); in HR cycle; when applying (expectation management); personal guidance; at changing job; et cetera
Value at WorkThe capability approach as model to apply the valueperspective in work
Tranzo academic collaborative centre for work and health, represented by Jac van der Klink and Dick Freriks
Tilburg University, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tranzo – Academische Werkplaats Arbeid en Gezondheid
The main risk and challenge of present day workThe main risk and challenge in present-day western work places is not in the presence of health-threatening but in the absence of health-promoting elements. Especially the value of work is considered to be an important aspect of workers Quality of Working Life
Practical application - impact
Contact and informationProf dr. Jac van der Klink: [email protected] Drs. Dick Freriks: [email protected]
https://www.werkalswaarde.nl
This value aspect of present day work fits very well with thecapability approach
Van der Klink et al.have recently proposed a set of work values based on interviews with workers in the Dutch labour force. This ‘capability set for work’ consists of seven non-hierarchical work capabilities. This instrument generated a lot of research and practical applications.
Cutting stone or building a cathedral
Equality in means Equity in capability
Equality of what?In the CA resources (‘means to achieve’ such as income and wealth but also a health condition or labour conditions), only have meaning because of what individuals can be and do through using them and ‘converting’ such ‘means’ into outcomes. For Sen equity in capabilities is important and not equality in means as in most economic and political philosophical theories.
The capability approach and work
The capability set for work questionnaire
Van der Klink et al.have recently proposed a set of work values based on interviews with workers in the Dutch labour force. This ‘capability set for work’ consists of seven non-hierarchical work capabilities. This instrument generated a lot of research and practical applications.
The use of knowledge and skillsThe development of knowledge and skillsInvolvement in important decisionsBuilding and maintaining meaningful contacts at workSetting own goalsHaving a good incomeContributing to something valuable
A value is part of the capability set if a worker finds this work value important is enabled and is able to succeed in achieving the value
Practical applications - impact
NethlabSamenwerking op arbeid, gezondheid en participatie in Tilburg
Example personal guidance:Teacher university of applies sciences; woman, 29 years old; successful in business, wanted to do something that has more social significance.Panic attacks, social anxietyContributing to something valuable
Not at all
Not Neutral Yes Verumuch
Important? X
Enabled? X
Able? X
Use your knowledge and skills Not at all
Not Neutral Yes Verumuch
Important? X
Enabled? X
Able? X
Develop your knowledge and skills
Not at all
Not Neutral Yes Verumuch
Important? X
Enabled? X
Able? X