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Migration as a Capability: Discussing Sen’s Capability Approach in the Context of International Migration

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  • Marta Eichsteller

    (School of Sociology, University College Dublin, Ireland)

Abstract

Migration is a form of spatial and social transplant from one local and national context to another. Migration trajectories often expose the underlying intersections of social relations and social hierarchies that underpin cultural and social national environments. Migrants who encounter those complex structural inequalities must learn to negotiate classed, gendered and racialised social relations and seek the most suitable social positions within new systems. This article builds on Amartya Sen’s capability approach to conceptualise migrants’ embeddedness in the framework of social inequalities and explores the relationship between individual choices, resources and entitlements. It points towards patterns of advantage and disadvantage that frame migrants’ opportunities and draws tacit analytical, theoretical and methodological links that have the innovative potential for the study of migration. Building on the parallels between studies in the fields of social inequalities and migration, this article argues that Sen’s analytical and conceptual approach provides innovative insights into migration experiences, and Sen’s unique reasoning opens up new avenues for the discussion of migrants’ social justice.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Eichsteller, 2021. "Migration as a Capability: Discussing Sen’s Capability Approach in the Context of International Migration," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 174-181.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v:9:y:2021:i:1:p:174-181
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ingrid Robeyns, 2005. "The Capability Approach: a theoretical survey," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 93-117.
    2. Bernard Lahire, 2019. "Sociological biography and socialisation process: a dispositionalist-contextualist conception," Contemporary Social Science, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(3-4), pages 379-393, October.
    3. Sen, Amartya, 1983. "Poor, Relatively Speaking," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(2), pages 153-169, July.
    4. Sen, Amartya, 1983. "Development: Which Way Now?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 93(372), pages 742-762, December.
    5. Martha Nussbaum, 2011. "Capabilities, Entitlements, Rights: Supplementation and Critique," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 23-37.
    6. Amartya Sen, 2000. "A Decade of Human Development," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(1), pages 17-23.
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    1. Eichsteller, Marta & Njagi, Tim & Nyukuri, Elvin, 2022. "The role of agriculture in poverty escapes in Kenya – Developing a capabilities approach in the context of climate change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    2. Thomas Faist & Joanna J. Fröhlich & Inka Stock & Ingrid Tucci, 2021. "Introduction: Migration and Unequal Positions in a Transnational Perspective," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 85-90.
    3. Mohammad Assaduzzaman & Tatiana Filatova & Jon C. Lovett & Frans H. J. M. Coenen, 2023. "Gender-Ethnicity Intersectionality in Climate Change Adaptation in the Coastal Areas of Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, February.

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