Why expanding capabilities does not necessarily imply reducing injustice: an assessment of Amartya Sen’s Idea of Justice in the context of Mexico’s Oportunidades/Prospera

Abstract

The idea that discussions about justice ought to offer practical political guidance has gained force in recent years. In this context, Sen's Idea of Justice (2009) aims at fulfilling this role. I assess to what extent Sen's comparative approach to justice succeeds in providing a useful conceptual framework to reduce injustice in practice, as it claims. Using the context of poverty in Mexico, and the social programme Oportunidades/Prospera as illustration, I argue that Sen's approach remains insufficient to guide injustice-reduction actions effectively. First, I note that despite enhancing individual's capabilities, these social improvements have not translated into a more just social reality overall. Second, I associate these shortcomings to the failure of capability-enhancing policies in accounting for the relational reproduction of injustice. Therefore, I conclude that to reduce injustice, we need to broaden the scope of injustice-reduction policies to address the ways in which injustice is reproduced through social interactions.