From Capacity to Capability? Rethinking the PRME agenda for inclusive development in management education

Abstract

This article assesses whether developments in management education, particularly PRME (the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education), can contribute to the promulgation of an inclusive development that moves beyond the discourse of 'growth' and 'income'. Based on an exploration of topical literature on inclusive development, Amartya Sen's capability approach, and the principles themselves, we argue that PRME in its current form reproduces a dominant market logic. It lacks the sensitivity to difference as captured in the plural quality of the capability approach. In response, we suggest a PRME agenda for management education that contributes to inclusive development as human well-being, rewriting it in terms of capabilities.