Starting from my research on education for children with disabilities in Addis Ababa, I am drawing the line from my concept of "developing a sense of belonging" to the Capability Approach.

Education for children with disabilities and especially inclusive education opens up spaces and possibilities for leading a better life in lots of cases. This leads to the question of the right to education and hence an issue of equity. Looking at this from a social justice angle, it is certainly the aspect of getting equal chances and opportunities in life and possibilities to participate in social life as a valued member. Having Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach in mind, it becomes clear that differences or inequalities are things that exist amongst human beings. These inequalities have to be addressed and given special attention on the way of achieving social equity and equality in opportunities. Adding some insight into the Capability Approach will show clearly what I mean by that.

Robeyns (2016) in her recent critical article “Capabilitarianism” offers an alternative perspective on the Capability Approach. She is trying to find a “minimum core that is shared by all capability theories and accounts”. The two most important concepts in the Capability Approach are capabilities and functionings. Already in 2011 Robeyns defines capabilities as “a person’s real freedoms or opportunities to achieve functionings”. Functionings are simply a persons “beings and doings”. Her definition from 2016 does not differ much from this. Sen states that capability is “a person’s ability to do valuable acts or reach valuable states of being”. (2009, 30) Speaking about equity in education, the capability approach adds a valuable perspective on the issue.

 „We have to examine the overall capability that any person has to lead the kind of life she has reason to want to lead, and this requires that attention be paid to her personal characteristics (including her disabilities, if any) as well as to her income and other resources, since both can influence her actual capabilities.“ (Sen 2004, 3)

 Being able to go to school, be educated and get the same opportunities like other children is one of the most essential aspects when speaking about equity in education. This again is highly related to issues of income and poverty and hence individual well-being and quality of life.

The presentation will focus on these topics and will look at inclusive education from a “capability approach” perspective. 

Baker Collins, S. (2005). An understanding of poverty from those who are poor. Action Research, 3(1), 9-31. doi: 10.1177/1476750305047983 Biggeri, M. (2007). Children's Valued Capabilities. In M. Walker (Ed.), Amartya Sen's capability approach and social justice in education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Clark, D. A. (2005). The Capability Approach: Its Development, Critiques and Recent Advances. ESRC Economic & Social Research Council. Dean, H. (2009). Critiquing capabilities: The distractions of a beguiling concept. Critical Social Policy, 29(2), 261-278. doi: 10.1177/0261018308101629 Gasper, D. (1997). Sen's Capability Approach and Nussbaum's Capabilities Ethic. Journal of International Development, 9(2), 281-302. Gasper, D. (2002). Is Sen's Capability Approach an Adequate Basis for Considering Human Development? Review of Political Economy, 14(4), 435-461. doi: 10.1080/0953825022000009898 Hedge, N., & MacKenzie, A. (2012). Putting Nussbaum's Capability Approach to work: re-visiting inclusion. Cambridge Journal of Education, 42(3), 327-344. Mitra, S. (2006). The Capability Approach and Disability. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 16(4), 236-247. doi: 10.1177/10442073060160040501 Nussbaum, M. C., & Sen, A. (Eds.). (2009). The quality of life. New York: Oxford University Press. Reindal, S. M. (2009). Disability, capability, and special education: towards a capability-based theory. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 24(2), 155 - 168. Riddle, C. A. Indexing, Capabilities, and Disability. Journal of Social Philosophy, 41(4), 527-537. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9833.2010.01514.x Robeyns, I. (2005). The Capability Approach: a theoretical survey. Journal of Human Development, 6(1), 93 - 117. Robeyns, Ingrid (2011). The capability approach. Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Online Sen, A. (1979). Equality of What. The Tanner Lecture on Human Values held on 22nd of May 1979. Stanford: Stanford University. Sen, A. (2004). Disability and Justice. Keynote Speech. Paper presented at the Disability and Inclusive Development Conference. Terzi, L. (2005). A capability perspective on impairment, disability and special needs. Theory and Research in Education, 3(2), 197-223. doi: 10.1177/1477878505053301 Walker, M. (2010). Capabilities and social justice in education. In H. U. Otto & H. Ziegler (Eds.), Education, welfare and the capabilities approach a European perspective (pp. 155-170). Opladen [u.a.]: Budrich.