Education and capabilities in Bangladesh

Abstract

Based on Martha Nussbaum’s list of central human functional capabilities, this chapter is an empirical study of the links between education and the development of girls’ and women’s capabilities in Bangladesh. The study arises from the expansion of girls’ education in Bangladesh; the widespread assumption that education helps lead to empowerment (which I take to be the development of capabilities); the claim by some that Bangladesh has already achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of the empowerment of women, and the evidence indicating otherwise. Through interviews with adolescent girls about what going to school and "being educated" means to them, there is an exploration of which capabilities are enhanced by the educational process in Bangladesh, and which are not. I argue that education cannot be regarded as a basic capability unless it specifically addresses the process of developing the capabilities necessary to live a life one has reason to value.