What should social welfare seek to achieve? Applying the capability approach

In this paper I introduce the capability approach (Nussbaum, Sen) for a social welfare practice audience. The approach is described as a normative theory underpinned by the proposal that social welfare actions should be evaluated on the basis of how capable people are of living lives they have reason to value. By summarising Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities account and describing the practical logic of capability theory, I propose potential benefits in applying the approach to strengthen practice-values alignment in neo-liberal social welfare contexts. Firstly, the approach might reinvigorate the normative foundations of social welfare education. Secondly, in articulating 10 central capabilities necessary for every person’s well-being, Nussbaum’s framework has the potential to challenge preference-based welfare provision and ignite stronger advocacy efforts that defend basic capabilities that all individuals have good reason to value. Thirdly, a capability-informed approach to social welfare programmes evaluation has the potential to improve unity, for example, in assisting evaluation efforts to focus on what is common and sustainable in human well-being. Interdisciplinary criticisms of the approach are engaged, concluding with an invitation for welfare scholars and practitioners to consider further applications of the capability approach.