Integral human development: A characterisation from the catholic social tradition and Amartya Sen’s capability approach

Abstract

The concept of integral human development is central to the Catholic social tradition. Yet, it remains under-explored with regard to its integrating components and their implications. What does taking an integral human development perspective mean for social analysis and action? The paper seeks to answer this question on the basis of the four encyclicals in which the idea of integral human development is treated, and in combination with the literature on human development in the multidisciplinary social science field of international development studies and its conceptual foundations in Amartya Sen’s capability approach. Based on this comparative analysis, the paper proposes an understanding of integral human development that it calls a “spirituality-extended capability approach to the progress of peoples”.